Making ghost vortices visible in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

Ghost vortices constitute an elusive class of topological excitations in quantum fluids since the relevant phase singularities fall within regions where the superfluid density is almost zero. Here we present a platform that allows for the controlled generation and observation of such vortices. Upon rotating an imbalanced mixture of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), one can obtain necklaces of real vortices in the majority component whose cores get filled by particles from the minority one. The wavefunction describing the state of the latter is shown to harbour a number of ghost vortices which are crucial to support the overall dynamics of the mixture. Their arrangement typically mirrors that of their real counterpart, hence resulting in a "dual" ghostvortex necklace, whose properties are thoroughly investigated in the present paper. We also present a viable experimental protocol for the direct observation of ghost vortices in a 23 Na + 39 K ultracold mixture. Quenching the inter-component scattering length, some atoms are expelled from the vortex cores and, while diffusing, swirl around unpopulated phase singularities, thus turning them directly observable.