Hidden vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating double-well potential

We study vortex formation in a Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating double-well potential. In addition to the ordinary quantized vortices and elusive ghost vortices, "hidden" vortices are found distributed along the central barrier. These hidden vortices are invisible like ghost vortices but carry angular momentum. Moreover, their core size is not given by the healing length, but is strongly influenced by the external potential. We find that the Feynman rule can be well satisfied only after including the hidden vortices. There is no critical rotation frequency for the formation of hidden vortices while there is one for the formation of ordinary visible vortices. Hidden vortices can be revealed in the free expansion of Bose-Einstein condensates. In addition, the hidden vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate can appear in other external potentials, such as a rotating anisotropic toroidal trap.