Rotating trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

Understand

After reviewing the ideal Bose-Einstein gas in a box and in a harmonic trap, I discuss the effect of interactions on the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), along with the dynamics of small-amplitude perturbations (the Bogoliubov equations).

• When the condensate rotates with angular velocity Omega, one or several vortices nucleate, with many observable consequences.
• With more rapid rotation, the vortices form a dense triangular array, and the collective behavior of these vortices has additional experimental implications.
• For Omega near the radial trap frequency omega_perp, the lowest-Landau-level approximation becomes applicable, providing a simple picture of such rapidly rotating condensates.