Summary: LETTERS
Spontaneous vortices in the formation of
Bose­Einstein condensates
Chad N. Weiler1
, Tyler W. Neely1
, David R. Scherer1
, Ashton S. Bradley2
{, Matthew J. Davis2
& Brian P. Anderson1
Phase transitions are ubiquitous in nature, and can be arranged
into universality classes such that systems having unrelated micro-
scopic physics show identical scaling behaviour near the critical
point. One prominent universal element of many continuous
phase transitions is the spontaneous formation of topological
defects during a quench through the critical point1­3
. The micro-
scopic dynamics of defect formation in such transitions are gen-
erally difficult to investigate, particularly for superfluids4­7
.
However, Bose­Einstein condensates (BECs) offer unique experi-

Source: Anderson, Brian P. - Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona

Collections: Physics