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Signatures of coherent vortex structures in a disordered two-dimensional quantum fluid
Journal article

Signatures of coherent vortex structures in a disordered two-dimensional quantum fluid

Matthew T. Reeves, Thomas P. Billam, Brian P. Anderson and Ashton S. Bradley
Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, Vol.89(5), 053631
30/05/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/10523/30218

Abstract

Optics Physical Sciences Physics Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical Science & Technology
The emergence of coherent rotating structures is a phenomenon characteristic of both classical and quantum two-dimensional (2D) turbulence. In this work we show theoretically that the coherent vortex structures that emerge in decaying 2D quantum turbulence can approach quasiclassical rigid-body rotation, obeying the Feynman rule of constant average areal vortex density while remaining spatially disordered. By developing a rigorous link between the velocity probability distribution and the quantum kinetic energy spectrum over wave number k, we show that the coherent vortex structures are associated with a k(3) power law in the infrared region of the spectrum, and a well-defined spectral peak that is a physical manifestation of the largest structures. We discuss the possibility of realizing coherent structures in Bose-Einstein condensate experiments and present Gross-Pitaevskii simulations showing that this phenomenon, and its associated spectral signatures, can emerge dynamically from feasible initial vortex configurations.

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