Helical spin textures in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We numerically study elongated helical spin textures in ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates subject to dipolar interparticle forces. Stationary states of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation are solved and analyzed for various values of the helical wave vector and dipolar coupling strength. We find two helical spin textures which differ by the nature of their topological defects. The spin structure hosting a pair of Mermin-Ho vortices with opposite mass flows and aligned spin currents is stabilized for a nonzero value of the helical wave vector.