Superflow in a toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate: an atom circuit with a tunable weak link

We have created a long-lived (~ 40 s) persistent current in a toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate held in an all-optical trap. A repulsive optical barrier creates a tunable weak link in the condensate circuit, which can affect the current around the loop. Superflow stops abruptly at a barrier strength such that the local flow velocity exceeds a critical velocity. The measured critical velocity is consistent with dissipation due to the creation of vortex-antivortex pairs. This system is the first realization of an elementary closed-loop atom circuit.
Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in PRL