Vortex Nucleation in a Stirred Bose-Einstein Condensate
Vortex Nucleation in a Stirred Bose-Einstein Condensate
We studied the nucleation of vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate stirred by a laser beam. The vortex cores were observed using time-of-flight absorption imaging. Depending on the stirrer size, either discrete resonances or a broad response was visible as the stir frequency was varied. Stirring beams small compared to the …