Author Description

In this dissertation we explore superfluid dynamics in ultracold atomic gasses using density functional theories. In particular, we present three manuscripts discussing physics in a turbulent unitary Fermi gas, a spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, and a mixture of superfluid Fermi and Bose gases. These applications use cold atoms as quantum simulators for less intractable systems, in particular phenomenon related to nuclear astrophysics such as, pulsar glitches. In one of the manuscripts we propose an experimental protocol using a Fermi-Bose mixture to detect superfluid entrainment, important in explaining glitches in pulsar rotations-sudden increase in the rotation rate. If implemented, this will be the first direct detection of entrainment. In addition to entrainment, quantum turbulence is most likely an important part of pulsar glitches. To understand the dynamics in the turbulent region we simulate the time evolution of a vortex tangle in a rotating unitary Fermi gas in another manuscript. Using our simulations, we have been able to characterize two different vortex tangle decay mechanisms mediated by inter-vortex interactions and interactions with the trap boundary. Finally, in a third manuscript, we explore the effect of a synthetic spin-orbit coupling on the expansion dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate and identify the role of modified dispersion relation and negative-mass hydro- dynamics on the phenomenon of self-trapping primarily observed in optical lattices. This demonstrates how cold atoms can be used to adjust properties like dispersion relations which ultimately might allow us manipulate properties such as the effective viscosity in a turbulent superfluid, so that we can simulate neutron star pulsars.