Kibble–Zurek mechanism in a trapped ferromagnetic Bose–Einstein condensate
Kibble–Zurek mechanism in a trapped ferromagnetic Bose–Einstein condensate
Spontaneous spin vortex formation in a magnetic phase transition of a trapped spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate is investigated based on mean-field theory. In a harmonic trapping potential, an inhomogeneous atomic density leads to spatial variations of the critical point, magnetization time, and spin correlation length. The Kibble–Zurek phenomena are shown to …