title: Vortex knots in a Bose-Einstein condensate.
abstract: We present a method for numerically building a vortex knot state in the superfluid wave function of a Bose-Einstein condensate. We integrate in time the governing Gross-Pitaevskii equation to determine evolution and shape preservation of the two (topologically) simplest vortex knots which can be wrapped over a torus. We find that the velocity of a vortex knot depends on the ratio of poloidal and toroidal radius: for smaller ratio, the knot travels faster. Finally, we show how vortex knots break up into vortex rings.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy, EU. davideproment@gmail.com
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proment
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onorato
authors.forename: Carlo F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Barenghi