In this simulation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, each vortex rotates in the opposite direction (shown by arrows) as its neighbors, just like a cogwheel rotates clockwise if it’s interlocked with one that’s rotating counterclockwise. Initially observed in experiments, such vortices have been theorized to form from random quantum fluctuations. The new simulation suggests that vortices can form without such fluctuations; instead, they may arise from the interactions of the matter waves, Gary Ruben and his colleagues at Monash University in Australia write in an upcoming Physical Review A. --Davide Castelvecchi
See the simulation:
Bose Einstein Condensate Simulation from Science News on Vimeo.Credit: Gary Ruben’s Lab, Monash University

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Found in: Physics