Space-Time Vortex Driven Crossover and Vortex Turbulence Phase Transition in One-Dimensional Driven Open Condensates

Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Feb 24;118(8):085301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.085301. Epub 2017 Feb 21.

Abstract

We find a first-order transition driven by the strength of nonequilibrium conditions of one-dimensional driven open condensates. Associated with this transition is a new stable nonequilibrium phase, space-time vortex turbulence, whose vortex density and quasiparticle distribution show strongly nonthermal behavior. Below the transition, we identify a new time scale associated with noise-activated unbound space-time vortices, beyond which, the temporal coherence function changes from a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang-type subexponential to a disordered exponential decay. Experimental realization of the nonequilibrium vortex turbulent phase is facilitated in driven open condensates with a large diffusion rate.