Dynamic instability of a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate

  • 18 January 2001
Abstract
We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a rotating harmonic potential, in connection with recent experiments leading to the formation of vortices. We use the classical hydrodynamic approximation to the non-linear Schroedinger equation to determine almost analytically the evolution of the condensate. We predict that this evolution can exhibit dynamical instabilities, for the stirring procedure previously demonstrated at ENS and for two new stirring procedures that we put forward. These instabilities take place within the range of stirring frequency and amplitude for which vortices are produced experimentally. They are therefore a possible initiating mechanism for vortex nucleation.

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