Three-dimensional numerical simulation of long-lived quantum vortex knots and links in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate

Dynamics of simplest vortex knots, unknots, and links of torus type inside an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in anisotropic harmonic trap at zero temperature has been numerically simulated using three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The lifetime for such quasi-stationary rotating vortex structures has been found quite long in wide parametric domains of the system. This result is in qualitative agreement with a previous prediction based on a simplified one-dimensional model approximately describing dynamics of vortex filaments [V.P. Ruban, JETP 126, 397 (2018)].