Abstract
We consider a periodic vortex lattice in a rotating Bose-Einstein-condensed gas, where the centrifugal potential is exactly compensated by the external harmonic trap. By introducing a gauge transformation which makes the Hamiltonian periodic, we numerically solve the two-dimensional (2D) Gross-Pitaevskii equation finding the exact mean field ground state. In particular, we explore the crossover between the Thomas-Fermi regime, holding for large values of the coupling constant, and the lowest Landau level limit, corresponding to the weakly interacting case. Explicit results are given for the equation of state, the vortex core size, as well as the elastic shear modulus, which is crucial for the calculation of the Tkachenko frequencies.
- Received 21 September 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.73.023615
©2006 American Physical Society