Vortex phase qubit: generating arbitrary, counterrotating, coherent superpositions in Bose-Einstein condensates via optical angular momentum beams.

We propose a scheme for the generation of arbitrary coherent superpositions of vortex states in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) using the orbital-angular-momentum states of light. We devise a scheme to generate coherent superpositions of two such counterrotating states of light using well-known experimental techniques. We show that a specially designed Raman scheme allows for transfer of the optical vortex-superposition state onto an initially nonrotating BEC. This creates an arbitrary and coherent superposition of a vortex and antivortex pair in the BEC. The ideas presented here could be extended to generate entangled vortex states, design memories for the orbital-angular-momentum states of light, and perform other quantum information tasks. Applications to inertial sensing are also discussed.