Structural phase transitions of vortex matter in an optical lattice
arXiv:cond-mat/0404750 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.190401
Abstract
We consider the vortex structure of a rapidly rotating trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a co-rotating periodic optical lattice potential. We observe a rich variety of structural phases which reflect the interplay of the vortex-vortex and vortex-lattice interactions. The lattice structure is very sensitive to the ratio of vortices to pinning sites and we observe structural phase transitions and domain formation as this ratio is varied.
4 pages, 3 figures