title: Dynamical instability of a doubly quantized vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate.
abstract: Doubly quantized vortices were topologically imprinted in /F=1> 23Na condensates, and their time evolution was observed using a tomographic imaging technique. The decay into two singly quantized vortices was characterized and attributed to dynamical instability. The time scale of the splitting process was found to be longer at higher atom density.
authors.affiliation: MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vengalattore
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Pasquini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanner
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Leanhardt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prentiss
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ketterle