This paper emphasizes that non-linear rotational or diamagnetic susceptibility is characteristic of Bose fluids above their superfluid Tcs. For sufficiently slow rotation or, for superconductors, weak B-fields this amounts to an incompressible response to vorticity. The cause is that there are terms missing in the conventionally accepted model Hamiltonian for quantized vortices in the Bose fluid. The resulting susceptibility can account for recent observations of Chan et al on solid He, and Ong et al on cuprate superconductors.
This paper emphasizes that non-linear rotational or diamagnetic susceptibility is characteristic of Bose fluids above their superfluid Tcs. For sufficiently slow rotation or, for superconductors, weak B-fields this amounts to an incompressible response to vorticity. The cause is that there are terms missing in the conventionally accepted model Hamiltonian for quantized vortices in the Bose fluid. The resulting susceptibility can account for recent observations of Chan et al on solid He, and Ong et al on cuprate superconductors.
This Letter emphasizes that nonlinear rotational or diamagnetic susceptibility is characteristic of Bose fluids above their superfluid T(C)'s. For sufficiently slow rotation or, for superconductors, weak B fields, this amounts to an incompressible response to vorticity. The cause is that there are terms missing in the conventionally accepted model Hamiltonian for quantized vortices in the Bose fluid. The resulting susceptibility can account for recent observations of Chan et al. [Nature (London) 427, 225 (2004); Science 305, 1941 (2004)] on solid He and Ong et al. [Europhys. Lett. 72, 451 (2005) on cuprate superconductors.
In the previous chapter we described quantized vortex lines, which are one of the characteristic features of superfluids. In a classical fluid, the circulation of vortex lines is not quantized and, in addition, vortex lines decay because of viscous processes. Another feature of a superfluid, the lack of response to rotation for a small enough angular velocity, was also demonstrated. This is analogous to the Meissner effect for superconductors. One characteristic common to superfluids and superconductors is the ability to carry currents without dissipation. Such current-carrying states are not the lowest-energy state of the system. They are metastable states, the existence of which is intimately connected to the nature of the low-lying elementary excitations. The word ‘superfluidity’ does not refer to a single property of the system, but it is used to describe a variety of different phenomena (see Ref. [1]). Historically, the connection between superfluidity and the existence of a condensate, a macroscopically occupied quantum state, dates back to Fritz London's suggestion in 1938, as we have described in Chapter 1. However, the connection between Bose–Einstein condensation and superfluidity is a subtle one. A Bose–Einstein condensed system does not necessarily exhibit superfluidity, an example being the ideal Bose gas for which the critical velocity vanishes, as demonstrated in Sec. 10.1 below. Also lower-dimensional systems may exhibit superfluid behaviour in the absence of a true condensate, as we shall see in Chapter 15.
When a vessel containing a superfluid is set in rotational motion, the superfluid does not rotate uniformly with it; instead, quantized vortices develop. Vortices have been observed in a range of superfluids, including helium, atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, and type II superconductors in a magnetic field. Freilich et al. (p. [1182][1]) visualized real-time vortex dynamics in the most tunable of superfluid systems, an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. A small section of condensate was displaced from the trap and imaged as it fell in the gravitational field. The technique is applicable to exploring other complex dynamic systems, such as vortex reconnections and the role of vortices in quantum turbulence.
[1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1191224
Since its realization in dilute bosonic atomic gases [], [], Bose-Einstein condensation of alkali atoms and hydrogen has been produced and studied extensively in the laboratory [], and has permitted an intriguing glimpse into the macroscopic quantum world. In view of potential applications [], [], [], the study of quantized vortices, which are well-known signatures of superfluidity, is one of the key issues. In fact, bulk superfluids are distinguished from normal fluids by their ability to support dissipationless flow. Such persistent currents are intimately related to the existence of quantized vortices, which are localized phase singularities with integer topological charge []. The superfluid vortex is an example of a topological defect that is well known in superconductors [] and in liquid helium []. The occurrence of quantized vortices in superfluids has been the focus of fundamental theoretical and experimental work []. Different research groups have obtained quantized vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) experimentally, e.g., the JILA group [], [], the ENS group [] and the MIT group [], []. Currently, there are at least two typical ways to generate quantized vortices from a BEC ground state: (i) impose a laser beam rotating with an angular velocity on the magnetic trap holding the atoms to create a harmonic anisotropic potential [], [], []; or (ii) add to the stationary magnetic trap a narrow, moving Gaussian potential, representing a far-blue detuned laser [], [], [], [], [], [].
At low temperature Quantum Physics can manifest itself at the macroscopic scale in many spectacular ways. Some of its most remarkable features occur when a fluid is stirred. Indeed, as a consequence of the existence of a macroscopic wave-function describing the system, a quantum fluid cannot sustain rigid body rotation by contrast with a classical fluid. Rather, the stirring generates quantized vortices. The recent observation of novel quantum fluids formed by ultra-cold atomic gases allows us to revisit the properties of vortex systems, and to address pending questions of condensed matter physics.