title: Trapped two-dimensional condensates with synthetic spin-orbit coupling.
abstract: We study trapped 2D atomic Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-independent interactions in the presence of an isotropic spin-orbit coupling, showing that a rich physics results from the nontrivial interplay between spin-orbit coupling, confinement and interatomic interactions. For low interactions two types of half-vortex solutions with different winding occur, whereas strong-enough repulsive interactions result in a stripe-phase similar to that predicted for homogeneous condensates. Intermediate interaction regimes are characterized for large enough spin-orbit coupling by an hexagonally-symmetric phase with a triangular lattice of density minima similar to that observed in rapidly rotating condensates.
authors.affiliation: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata, Mohanpur, Nadia 741252, India.
authors.forename: Subhasis
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Rejish
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nath
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos