Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein-condensed atoms confined in annular potentials

• Published in: New journal of physics Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 15013 - 15022
• Main Authors: Karabulut, E Ö, Malet, F, Fetter, A L, Kavoulakis, G M, Reimann, S M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 2016
• Subjects: 03.75.Mn; 05.30.Jp; 67.85.Fg; Annuli; artificial spin-orbit coupling; atomtronics; cold atoms; Condensed Matter Physics; Den kondenserade materiens fysik; Density distribution; Fysik; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Physical Sciences; Physics
• ISSN: 1367-2630; 1367-2630
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/18/1/015013

A spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein-condensed cloud of atoms confined in an annular trapping potential shows a variety of phases that we investigate in the present study. Starting with the non-interacting problem, the homogeneous phase that is present in an untrapped system is replaced by a sinusoidal density variation in the limit of a very narrow annulus. In the case of an untrapped system there is another phase with a striped-like density distribution, and its counterpart is also found in the limit of a very narrow annulus. As the width of the annulus increases, this picture persists qualitatively. Depending on the relative strength between the inter- and the intra-components, interactions either favor the striped phase, or suppress it, in which case either a homogeneous, or a sinusoidal-like phase appears. Interactions also give rise to novel solutions with a nonzero circulation.