Acoustic superradiance from an optical-superradiance-induced vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider the scattering of an acoustic wave from a vortex induced by optical superradiance. The vortex is created by pumping a large amount of angular momentum with a Laguerre-Gaussian light beam in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. We derive the mean-field dynamical equations of the light-superfluid system, and obtain the equations governing the elementary excitation of the system, which result in a massless Klein-Gordon equation with source terms. This equation describes the propagation of the sound wave in an effective space-time. Employing a simplifying draining bathtub model for the vortex, we investigate the scattering of the acoustic wave in the vortex phase and obtain a condition for the acoustic superradiance. We conclude that Laguerre-Gaussian- beam-induced sudden transition from homogeneous to vortex state in the superfluid leads to a prominent observation of the acoustic superradiance. © 2014 American Physical Society.