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Weakly Nonlinear Analysis Of Vortex Formation In A Dissipative Variant Of The Gross-Pitaevskii Equation, J. C. Tzou, P. G. Kevrekidis, T. Kolokolnikov, R. Carretero-González

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

For a dissipative variant of the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a parabolic trap under rotation, we study a symmetry breaking process that leads to the formation of vortices. The first symmetry breaking leads to the formation of many small vortices distributed uniformly near the Thomas-Fermi radius. The instability occurs as a result of a linear instability of a vortex-free steady state as the rotation is increased above a critical threshold. We focus on the second subsequent symmetry breaking, which occurs in the weakly nonlinear regime. At slightly above threshold, we derive a one dimensional amplitude equation that describes the slow …