Physics – Condensed Matter – Superconductivity
Scientific paper
2008-09-20
CHIN. PHYS. LETT. Vol. 28, No. 9 (2011) 097102
Physics
Condensed Matter
Superconductivity
Scientific paper
10.1088/0256-307X/28/9/097102
According to the "no-node" theorem, many-body ground state wavefunctions of conventional Bose-Einstein condensations (BEC) are positive-definite, thus time-reversal symmetry cannot be spontaneously broken. We find that multi-component bosons with spin-orbit coupling provide an unconventional type of BECs beyond this paradigm. We focus on the subtle case of isotropic Rashba spin-orbit coupling and the spin-independent interaction. In the limit of the weak confining potential, the condensate wavefunctions are frustrated at the Hartree-Fock level due to the degeneracy of the Rashba ring. Quantum zero-point energy selects the spin-spiral type condensate through the "order-from-disorder" mechanism. In a strong harmonic confining trap, the condensate spontaneously generates a half-quantum vortex combined with the skyrmion type of spin texture. In both cases, time-reversal symmetry is spontaneously broken. These phenomena can be realized in both cold atom systems with artificial spin-orbit couplings generated from atom-laser interactions and exciton condensates in semi-conductor systems.
Mondragon-Shem Ian
Wu Congjun
Zhou Xiang-Fa
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