Vortex knots in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Davide Proment, Miguel Onorato, Carlo F. Barenghi

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79 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present a method for numerically building a vortex knot state in the superfluid wave function of a Bose-Einstein condensate. We integrate in time the governing Gross-Pitaevskii equation to determine evolution and shape preservation of the two (topologically) simplest vortex knots which can be wrapped over a torus. We find that the velocity of a vortex knot depends on the ratio of poloidal and toroidal radius: for smaller ratio, the knot travels faster. Finally, we show how vortex knots break up into vortex rings.
Original languageEnglish
Article number036306
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume85
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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