Local Spin-Gauge Symmetry of the Bose-Einstein Condensates in Atomic Gases.

The Bose-Einstein condensates of alkali atomic gases are spinor fields with local {open_quote}{open_quote}spin-gauge{close_quote}{close_quote} symmetry. This symmetry is manifested by a superfluid velocity {ital u}{sub {ital s}} (or gauge field) generated by the Berry phase of the spin field. In {open_quote}{open_quote}static{close_quote}{close_quote} traps, {ital u}{sub {ital s}} splits the degeneracy of the harmonic energy levels, breaks the inversion symmetry of the vortex nucleation frequency {bold {Omega}}{sub {ital c}1}, and can lead to {ital vortex} {ital ground} {ital states}. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}