Vortex dynamics near the surface of a Bose-Einstein condensate

The center-of-mass dynamics of a vortex in the surface region of a Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated both analytically using a variational calculation and numerically by solving the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We find, in agreement with previous works, that away from the Thomas-Fermi surface, the vortex moves parallel to the surface of the condensate with a constant velocity. We obtain an expression for this velocity in terms of the distance of the vortex core from the Thomas-Fermi surface that fits accurately with the numerical results. We find also that, coupled to its motion parallel to the surface, the vortex oscillates along the direction normal to the surface around a minimum point of an effective potential.