Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1301.4554 · Physical Review B

Transverse force on a vortex and vortex mass: Effects of free bulk and vortex-core bound quasiparticles

Edouard B Sonin

Published Apr 23, 2013• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The paper reassesses the old but still controversial problem of the transverse force on a vortex and the vortex mass. The transverse force from free bulk quasiparticles on the vortex, both in the Bose and the Fermi liquids, originates from the Aharonov-Bohm effect. However, in the Fermi liquid, one should take into account peculiarities of the Aharonov-Bohm effect for BCS quasiparticles described by two-component spinor wave functions. There is no connection between the transverse force (either from free bulk quasiparticles or from vortex-core bound quasiparticles) and the spectral flow in the vortex core in superfluid Fermi liquid, in contrast to widely known claims. In fact, there is no steady spectral flow in the core of the moving vortex, and the analogy with the Andreev bound states in the superconductor--normal-metal--superconductor junction, where the spectral flow is really possible, is not valid in this respect. The role of the backflow on the vortex mass is clarified. The backflow is an inevitable consequence of a mismatch between the currents inside and outside the vortex core and restores the conservation of the particle number (charge) violated by this mismatch. In the Fermi liquid, the backflow compensates the current through the core bound states, which is a source of the vortex mass (the Kopnin mass). This results in renormalization of the Kopnin vortex mass by a numerical factor.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.87.134515

Related papers

Comment on vortex mass and quantum tunneling of vortices

Григорий Ефимович Воловик

Vortex mass in Fermi superfluids and superconductors and its influence on quantum tunneling of vortices are discussed. The vortex mass is essentially enhanced due to the fermion zero modes in the core of the vortex: the bound states of the Bogoliubov quasiparticles localized in the core. These bound states form the normal component, which is nonzero even in the low-temperature limit. In the collisionless regime ω 0 τ≫1 the normal component trapped by the vortex is unbound from the normal component in a bulk superfluid/superconductor and adds to the inertial mass of the moving vortex. In a d-wave superconductor the vortex mass has an additional factor of (B c2/B)1/2 due to the gap nodes.

arXiv:cond-mat/9612074•Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters•Jan 1, 1997•72 citations

Magnus force in superfluids and superconductors

Edouard B Sonin

The forces on the vortex, transverse to its velocity, are considered. In addition to the superfluid Magnus force from the condensate (superfluid component), there are transverse forces from thermal quasiparticles and external fields violating the Galilean invariance. The forces between quasiparticles and the vortex originate from interference of quasiparticles with trajectories on the left and on the right from the vortex like similar forces for electrons interacting with the thin magnetic-flux tube (the Aharonov-Bohm effect). These forces are derived for phonons from the equations of superfluid hydrodynamics, and for BCS quasiparticles from the Bogolyubov--de Gennes equations. The effect of external fields breaking Galilean invariance is analyzed for vortices in the two-dimensional Josephson junction array. The symmetry analysis of the classical equations for the array shows that the total transverse force on the vortex vanishes. Therefore the Hall effect which is linear in the transverse force is absent also. This means that the Magnus force from the superfluid component exactly cancels with the transverse force from the external fields. The results of other approaches are also brought together for discussion.

arXiv:cond-mat/9606099•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Jan 1, 1997•225 citations

Spectral Flow in The Vortex Core

Григорий Ефимович Воловик

Abstract There are four forces acting on a vortex moving with respect to normal and superfluid components of the liquid: three reactive forces (Magnus, Iordanskii, and Kopnin forces) and the Stokes friction force. The Iordanskii force comes from the analog of the gravitational Aharonov–Bohm effect and are discussed later in the book. The Kopnin or spectral flow force appears only in fermionic superfluids. This chapter discusses the Kopnin force acting on a singular vortex. The origin of this force is the phenomenon of chiral anomaly, but as distinct from the force acting on continuous vortex discussed in Chapter 18, the Adler–Bell–Jackiw equation for chiral anomaly is not applicable. The anomaly is now related to the spectral flow of fermion zero modes in the vortex core, which is caused by motion of the vortex with respect to the normal component. The spectral flow leads to generation of linear momentum by a vortex core, which is then transferred to the normal component. This process is similar to the generation of baryonic charge by the cores of cosmic strings and serves as the analog of Callan–Harvey mechanism of cancellation of anomalies. The temperature dependence of the spectral flow force is obtained from solution of kinetic equation for fermion zero modes. The resulting force acting on a vortex has been measured in experiments on vortex dynamics in 3He-B. Existence of two forces in addition to conventional Magnus and friction forces — Iordanskii and Kopnin forces – has been verified.

•Feb 26, 2009•0 citations

The Aharonov–Bohm effect in neutral liquids

Edouard B Sonin

The Aharonov–Bohm effect was discovered as a quantum-mechanical effect for charged particles, but it has its counterpart in classical wave mechanics. The Aharonov–Bohm interference arises at the scattering of a sound wave by a vortex in classical and quantum hydrodynamics. This interference leads to a transverse force between quasiparticles and vortices in superfluids and superconductors. The Aharonov–Bohm effect was also generalized to neutral particles with magnetic or electric dipole momenta. The Aharonov–Bohm effect for charge particles and its modification for magnetic momenta (the Aharonov–Casher effect) have already been experimentally observed, and the efforts to detect the Aharonov–Bohm effect for electrically polarized neutral particles are on the way. A possible system for this detection is a Bose-condensate of excitons in a double quantum well. Observation of the Aharonov–Bohm effect in this system would provide direct evidence of Bose–Einstein condensation.

Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Aug 12, 2010•9 citations

Vortex dynamics and mutual friction in superconductors and Fermi superfluids

Nikolai B. Kopnin

Excitations in vortex cores in superconductors and other Fermi superfluids are single-particle excitations with a peculiar energy spectrum. These excitations are responsible for many important thermodynamic properties such as specific heat, London penetration length, etc. They also determine the dynamic characteristics of superconductors and superfluids through their interaction with vortices. Flux flow resistance, the Hall effect in type II superconductors and the mutual friction in superfluids are the most important phenomena which strongly depend on vortex core excitations. These phenomena determine the electromagnetic responses of type II superconductors and the hydrodynamic behaviour of superfluids and are of great significance for practical applications of superconducting devices and for understanding the most fundamental properties of correlated electrons and other Fermi particles. In this review we consider the dynamic properties of superconductors and superfluids and outline the basic ideas and results on the vortex dynamics in clean superfluid Fermi systems. The forces acting on moving vortices are discussed including the problem of the transverse force which was a matter of confusion for quite some time. We formulate the equations of the vortex dynamics, which include all the forces and the inertial term associated with excitations bound to the moving vortex.

Reports on Progress in Physics•Sep 26, 2002•124 citations

QUANTIZED VORTICES IN SUPERFLUIDS AND SUPERCONDUCTORS

D. J. Thouless, Ping Ao, Qian Niu +2 more

We give a general review of recent developments in the theory of vortices in superfluids and superconductors, discussing why the dynamics of vortices is important, and why some key results are still controversial. We discuss work that we have done on the dynamics of quantized vortices in a superfluid. Despite the fact that this problem has been recognized as important for forty years, there is still a lot of controversy about the forces on and masses of quantized vortices. We think that one can get unambiguous answers by considering a broken symmetry state that consists of one vortex in an infinite ideal system. We argue for a Magnus force that is proportional to the superfluid density, and we find that the effective mass density of a vortex in a neutral superfluid is divergent at low frequencies. We have generalized some of the results for a neutral superfluid to a charged system.

arXiv:cond-mat/9709127•International Journal of Modern Physics B•Mar 10, 1999•13 citations
The paper reassesses the old but still controversial problem of the transverse force on a vortex and the vortex mass. The transverse force from free bulk quasiparticles on the vortex, both in the Bose and the Fermi liquids, originates from the Aharonov-Bohm effect. However, in the Fermi liquid, one should take into account peculiarities of the Aharonov-Bohm effect for BCS quasiparticles described by two-component spinor wave functions. There is no connection between the transverse force (either from free bulk quasiparticles or from vortex-core bound quasiparticles) and the spectral flow in the vortex core in superfluid Fermi liquid, in contrast to widely known claims. In fact, there is no steady spectral flow in the core of the moving vortex, and the analogy with the Andreev bound states in the superconductor--normal-metal--superconductor junction, where the spectral flow is really possible, is not valid in this respect. The role of the backflow on the vortex mass is clarified. The backflow is an inevitable consequence of a mismatch between the currents inside and outside the vortex core and restores the conservation of the particle number (charge) violated by this mismatch. In the Fermi liquid, the backflow compensates the current through the core bound states, which is a source of the vortex mass (the Kopnin mass). This results in renormalization of the Kopnin vortex mass by a numerical factor.
Vortex mass in Fermi superfluids and superconductors and its influence on quantum tunneling of vortices are discussed. The vortex mass is essentially enhanced due to the fermion zero modes in the core of the vortex: the bound states of the Bogoliubov quasiparticles localized in the core. These bound states form the normal component, which is nonzero even in the low-temperature limit. In the collisionless regime ω 0 τ≫1 the normal component trapped by the vortex is unbound from the normal component in a bulk superfluid/superconductor and adds to the inertial mass of the moving vortex. In a d-wave superconductor the vortex mass has an additional factor of (B c2/B)1/2 due to the gap nodes.
The forces on the vortex, transverse to its velocity, are considered. In addition to the superfluid Magnus force from the condensate (superfluid component), there are transverse forces from thermal quasiparticles and external fields violating the Galilean invariance. The forces between quasiparticles and the vortex originate from interference of quasiparticles with trajectories on the left and on the right from the vortex like similar forces for electrons interacting with the thin magnetic-flux tube (the Aharonov-Bohm effect). These forces are derived for phonons from the equations of superfluid hydrodynamics, and for BCS quasiparticles from the Bogolyubov--de Gennes equations. The effect of external fields breaking Galilean invariance is analyzed for vortices in the two-dimensional Josephson junction array. The symmetry analysis of the classical equations for the array shows that the total transverse force on the vortex vanishes. Therefore the Hall effect which is linear in the transverse force is absent also. This means that the Magnus force from the superfluid component exactly cancels with the transverse force from the external fields. The results of other approaches are also brought together for discussion.
Abstract There are four forces acting on a vortex moving with respect to normal and superfluid components of the liquid: three reactive forces (Magnus, Iordanskii, and Kopnin forces) and the Stokes friction force. The Iordanskii force comes from the analog of the gravitational Aharonov–Bohm effect and are discussed later in the book. The Kopnin or spectral flow force appears only in fermionic superfluids. This chapter discusses the Kopnin force acting on a singular vortex. The origin of this force is the phenomenon of chiral anomaly, but as distinct from the force acting on continuous vortex discussed in Chapter 18, the Adler–Bell–Jackiw equation for chiral anomaly is not applicable. The anomaly is now related to the spectral flow of fermion zero modes in the vortex core, which is caused by motion of the vortex with respect to the normal component. The spectral flow leads to generation of linear momentum by a vortex core, which is then transferred to the normal component. This process is similar to the generation of baryonic charge by the cores of cosmic strings and serves as the analog of Callan–Harvey mechanism of cancellation of anomalies. The temperature dependence of the spectral flow force is obtained from solution of kinetic equation for fermion zero modes. The resulting force acting on a vortex has been measured in experiments on vortex dynamics in 3He-B. Existence of two forces in addition to conventional Magnus and friction forces — Iordanskii and Kopnin forces – has been verified.
The Aharonov–Bohm effect was discovered as a quantum-mechanical effect for charged particles, but it has its counterpart in classical wave mechanics. The Aharonov–Bohm interference arises at the scattering of a sound wave by a vortex in classical and quantum hydrodynamics. This interference leads to a transverse force between quasiparticles and vortices in superfluids and superconductors. The Aharonov–Bohm effect was also generalized to neutral particles with magnetic or electric dipole momenta. The Aharonov–Bohm effect for charge particles and its modification for magnetic momenta (the Aharonov–Casher effect) have already been experimentally observed, and the efforts to detect the Aharonov–Bohm effect for electrically polarized neutral particles are on the way. A possible system for this detection is a Bose-condensate of excitons in a double quantum well. Observation of the Aharonov–Bohm effect in this system would provide direct evidence of Bose–Einstein condensation.
Excitations in vortex cores in superconductors and other Fermi superfluids are single-particle excitations with a peculiar energy spectrum. These excitations are responsible for many important thermodynamic properties such as specific heat, London penetration length, etc. They also determine the dynamic characteristics of superconductors and superfluids through their interaction with vortices. Flux flow resistance, the Hall effect in type II superconductors and the mutual friction in superfluids are the most important phenomena which strongly depend on vortex core excitations. These phenomena determine the electromagnetic responses of type II superconductors and the hydrodynamic behaviour of superfluids and are of great significance for practical applications of superconducting devices and for understanding the most fundamental properties of correlated electrons and other Fermi particles. In this review we consider the dynamic properties of superconductors and superfluids and outline the basic ideas and results on the vortex dynamics in clean superfluid Fermi systems. The forces acting on moving vortices are discussed including the problem of the transverse force which was a matter of confusion for quite some time. We formulate the equations of the vortex dynamics, which include all the forces and the inertial term associated with excitations bound to the moving vortex.
We give a general review of recent developments in the theory of vortices in superfluids and superconductors, discussing why the dynamics of vortices is important, and why some key results are still controversial. We discuss work that we have done on the dynamics of quantized vortices in a superfluid. Despite the fact that this problem has been recognized as important for forty years, there is still a lot of controversy about the forces on and masses of quantized vortices. We think that one can get unambiguous answers by considering a broken symmetry state that consists of one vortex in an infinite ideal system. We argue for a Magnus force that is proportional to the superfluid density, and we find that the effective mass density of a vortex in a neutral superfluid is divergent at low frequencies. We have generalized some of the results for a neutral superfluid to a charged system.