Quantized decay of high charge superflow in an annular BEC

We have studied superfluid flow using a holographically generated Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beam to trap and rotate Bose-Einstein condensates of $^{87}$Rb atoms. ~The LG beam allows phase windings with arbitrary choice of charge to be imprinted on the atomic cloud. The transferred angular momentum can be measured both interferometrically and mechanically. We have observed high charge vortices persist for long times ($>$40s) and decay stochastically in a quantized fashion. We also discuss our latest results on the application of artificial gauge potentials to our annular BEC.