Comparison of mean-field theories for vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

We compute structures of vortex configurations in a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensed atom gas within three different gapless self-consistent mean-field theories. Outside the vortex core region, the density profiles for the condensate and the thermal gas derived from the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov theory are found to differ by only a few per cent from those derived from two of its recently proposed gapless extensions. In the core region, however, the differences between the density profiles are substantial. The structural differences are reflected in the energies of the quasiparticle states localized near the vortex core. In particular, the predictions for the energy of the lowest quasiparticle excitation derived from the theoretical models investigated differ considerably.