Vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates: Finite-size effects and the thermodynamic limit
For a weakly interacting Bose gas rotating in a harmonic trap we relate the yrast states of small systems (that can be treated exactly) to the thermodynamic limit (derived within the mean-field approximation). For a few dozens of atoms, the yrast line shows distinct quasiperiodic oscillations with increasing angular momentum that originate from the internal structure of the exact many-body states.