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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 87 » Issue 8
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 080402 (2001) [4 pages]

Observation of Vortex Phase Singularities in Bose-Einstein Condensates

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S. Inouye, S. Gupta, T. Rosenband, A. P. Chikkatur, A. Görlitz, T. L. Gustavson, A. E. Leanhardt, D. E. Pritchard, and W. Ketterle
Department of Physics, Research Laboratory of Electronics, and MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Received 17 April 2001; published 2 August 2001

We have observed phase singularities due to vortex excitation in Bose-Einstein condensates. Vortices were created by moving a laser beam through a condensate. They were observed as dislocations in the interference fringes formed by the stirred condensate and a second unperturbed condensate. The velocity dependence for vortex excitation and the time scale for re-establishing a uniform phase across the condensate were determined.

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.080402
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.080402
PACS:
03.75.Fi, 03.75.Dg, 67.40.Vs
 
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