Creating vortices in dipolar spinor condensates via rapid adiabatic passage

We propose to create vortices in spin-1 condensates via magnetic dipole-dipole interaction. Starting with a polarized condensate prepared under large axial magnetic field, we show that by gradually inverting the field, population transfer among different spin states can be realized in a controlled manner. Under optimal condition, we generate a doubly quantized vortex state containing nearly all atoms in the condensate. The resulting vortex state is a direct manifestation of the dipole-dipole interaction and spin textures in spinor condensates. We also point out that the whole process can be qualitatively described by a simple three-level rapid adiabatic passage model.