Quasistable quantum vortex knots and links in anisotropic harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

The long-time existence of topologically nontrivial configurations of quantum vortices in the form of torus knots and links in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates is demonstrated numerically within the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation with an external anisotropic parabolic potential. We identify parametric domains of trap anisotropy, characterized by the axial over planar frequency ratio λ ≈1.5 -1.6 , where the lifetime of such quasistationary rotating vortex structures is many hundreds of typical rotation times. This suggests the potential experimental observability of the structures. We quantify the relevant lifetimes as a function of the model parameters (e.g., λ ) and initial condition parameters of the knot profile.