Stationary rings of vortices in nonrotating Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We numerically obtain stationary rings of vortices in pancake-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a three-dimensional nonrotating trap. For this purpose we use a static axisymmetric trapping potential that can sustain locally stable off-axis vortices. We analyze the maximum number of vortices the system can host as a function of the number of particles. We also show that this system provides a very suitable scenario for predicting vortex dynamics in inhomogeneous media. Specifically, on the one hand, we derive an exact and simple analytical expression for the velocity field in a particular vortex position due to the presence of the other vortices of the array. On the other hand, using the fact that in stationary conditions this field should balance all other contributions to the velocity, we investigate the applicability of approximated expressions for the precession velocity obtained in previous works for condensates with a single vortex. © 2008 The American Physical Society.