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:1704.01968 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Dissipation in mesoscale superfluids

Adrian Del Maestro, Bernd Rosenow

Published Apr 25, 2017• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We investigate the maximum speed at which a driven superfluid can flow through a narrow constriction with a size on the order of the healing length. Considering dissipation via the thermal nucleation of quantized vortices, we calculate the critical velocity for superfluid $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ and ultracold atomtronic circuits, identify fundamental length, and velocity scales, and are thus able to present results obtained in widely different temperature and density ranges in a universal framework. For ultranarrow channels, we predict a drastic reduction in the critical velocity as the energy barrier for flow reducing thermally activated phase slip fluctuations is suppressed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.95.140507

Related papers

Velocity-dependent quantum phase slips in 1D atomic superfluids

Luca Tanzi, Simona Scaffidi Abbate, Federica Cataldini +5 more

Quantum phase slips are the primary excitations in one-dimensional superfluids and superconductors at low temperatures but their existence in ultracold quantum gases has not been demonstrated yet. We now study experimentally the nucleation rate of phase slips in one-dimensional superfluids realized with ultracold quantum gases, flowing along a periodic potential. We observe a crossover between a regime of temperature-dependent dissipation at small velocity and interaction and a second regime of velocity-dependent dissipation at larger velocity and interaction. This behavior is consistent with the predicted crossover from thermally-assisted quantum phase slips to purely quantum phase slips.

arXiv:1603.05048•Scientific Reports•May 18, 2016•20 citations

Critical Transport and Vortex Dynamics in a Thin Atomic Josephson Junction

Klejdja Xhani, E. Neri, Luca Galantucci +9 more

We study the onset of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between Fermi superfluids in the molecular Bose-Einstein condensation limit of strong attraction. Our simulations identify the critical population imbalance and the maximum Josephson current delimiting dissipationless and dissipative transport, in quantitative agreement with recent experiments. We unambiguously link dissipation to vortex ring nucleation and dynamics, demonstrating that quantum phase slips are responsible for the observed resistive current. Our work directly connects microscopic features with macroscopic dissipative transport, providing a comprehensive description of vortex ring dynamics in three-dimensional inhomogeneous constricted superfluids at zero and finite temperatures.

arXiv:1905.08893•Physical Review Letters•Jan 31, 2020•53 citations

Dissipation in a superfluid atom circuit

Jeffrey Garver Lee

Bose-Einstein condensates of weakly interacting dilute atomic gases provide a unique system with which to study phenomena associated with superfluidity. The simplicity of these systems allows us to study the fundamental physics of superfluidity without having to consider the strong interactions present in other superfluid systems such as superconductors and liquid helium. While condensate-based studies have been around for 20 years, our novel approach to confining ultracold atoms has opened a completely new range of parameter space to investigate. Armed with an ability for straightforward creation of arbitrary, time-dependent potential landscapes in which to study superfluid interactions, we were able to take a closer look at predictions of superfluid behavior that are decades old, but until now have never been tested directly. The purpose of this research was to draw direct analogies between superfluid BEC systems, which we term superfluid atom circuits, and existing superconducting circuits, thus allowing us to take advantage of much of the existing knowledge that has come from this well-studied field. Specifically, existing circuits and devices that have been created with superconductors give us insight into what might be possible someday with atom-circuit devices and inspiration to create them. In these experiments, we employed two different atom circuits; one classical (thermal ideal gas) and one quantum (ultracold superfluid). Our results show that each system is equivalent to an electronic circuit consisting of a capacitor being discharged through an inductor in series with some dissipative element. In the thermal system, dissipation can be described in terms of simple resistive flow with the resistance equivalent to ballistic, Sharvin resistance seen in electronic circuits. The superfluid measurements show that the dissipation is best described as a resistance-shunted Josephson junction, which is an analogue to similar devices in superconducting circuits. Additionally, the specific geometry of the atom circuit we used in our superfluid system allowed us to investigate directly a predicted mechanism responsible for the dissipation in superfluids caused by the generation of collective excitations, namely vortices. Direct observation of this mechanism has not previously been possible in superfluid helium and superconducting systems.

•Jan 1, 2017•0 citations

Superflow in Restricted Geometries

R. J. Donnelly, R. N. Hills, Paul Harry Roberts

We propose a "competing barrier model" for nucleation of quantized vortices in small channels. The results are compared to experiments on decay of persistent currents, critical velocities, onset temperatures, and the effective superfluid density at onset.

Physical Review Letters•Mar 12, 1979•15 citations

Critical velocity and arrest of a superfluid in a pointlike disordered potential

R. Doran, Andrew J. Groszek, T. P. Billam

Superfluid flow past a potential barrier is a well studied problem in ultracold Bose gases, however, fewer studies have considered the case of flow through a disordered potential. Here we consider the case of a superfluid flowing through a channel containing multiple point-like barriers, randomly placed to form a disordered potential. We begin by identifying the relationship between the relative position of two point-like barriers and the critical velocity of such an arrangement. We then show that there is a mapping between the critical velocity of a system with two obstacles, and a system with a large number of obstacles. By establishing an initial superflow through a point-like disordered potential, moving faster than the critical velocity, we study how the superflow is arrested through the nucleation of vortices and the breakdown of superfluidity, a problem with interesting connections to quantum turbulence and coarsening. We calculate the vortex decay rate as the width of the barriers is increased, and show that vortex pinning becomes a more important effect for these larger barriers. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

arXiv:2201.11887•Physical Review A•Jan 5, 2024•1 citation

Critical velocity and dissipation mechanism in finite superfluid $^4$He nanodroplets

Keshav Sishodia, Ernesto García‐Alfonso, Nadine Halberstadt +2 more

A hallmark of superfluidity is the frictionless motion of an object below the Landau critical velocity; Whether this concept applies to nanoscale droplets remains unclear. Using time-dependent density functional theory, we investigate the motion of a sodium atom on the surface and inside a superfluid helium nanodroplet. For surface motion, we identify a critical velocity above which energy dissipation through ripplon excitation and the formation of surface-bound quantized vortices leads to rapid deceleration. Inside the droplet, the atom is slowed down to a steady-state velocity that depends on the initial speed, contrasting experiments reporting a critical velocity for dopants ejected from droplets [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 153002 (2013)]. Remarkably, the velocity of the ejected atom is nearly independent of its initial velocity. We demonstrate that this behavior results from the bursting of the bubble surrounding the atom at the droplet surface, challenging the previous experimental interpretation.

arXiv:2610.35728•Oct 26, 2026•0 citations
We investigate the maximum speed at which a driven superfluid can flow through a narrow constriction with a size on the order of the healing length. Considering dissipation via the thermal nucleation of quantized vortices, we calculate the critical velocity for superfluid 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He and ultracold atomtronic circuits, identify fundamental length, and velocity scales, and are thus able to present results obtained in widely different temperature and density ranges in a universal framework. For ultranarrow channels, we predict a drastic reduction in the critical velocity as the energy barrier for flow reducing thermally activated phase slip fluctuations is suppressed.
Quantum phase slips are the primary excitations in one-dimensional superfluids and superconductors at low temperatures but their existence in ultracold quantum gases has not been demonstrated yet. We now study experimentally the nucleation rate of phase slips in one-dimensional superfluids realized with ultracold quantum gases, flowing along a periodic potential. We observe a crossover between a regime of temperature-dependent dissipation at small velocity and interaction and a second regime of velocity-dependent dissipation at larger velocity and interaction. This behavior is consistent with the predicted crossover from thermally-assisted quantum phase slips to purely quantum phase slips.
We study the onset of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between Fermi superfluids in the molecular Bose-Einstein condensation limit of strong attraction. Our simulations identify the critical population imbalance and the maximum Josephson current delimiting dissipationless and dissipative transport, in quantitative agreement with recent experiments. We unambiguously link dissipation to vortex ring nucleation and dynamics, demonstrating that quantum phase slips are responsible for the observed resistive current. Our work directly connects microscopic features with macroscopic dissipative transport, providing a comprehensive description of vortex ring dynamics in three-dimensional inhomogeneous constricted superfluids at zero and finite temperatures.
Bose-Einstein condensates of weakly interacting dilute atomic gases provide a unique system with which to study phenomena associated with superfluidity. The simplicity of these systems allows us to study the fundamental physics of superfluidity without having to consider the strong interactions present in other superfluid systems such as superconductors and liquid helium. While condensate-based studies have been around for 20 years, our novel approach to confining ultracold atoms has opened a completely new range of parameter space to investigate. Armed with an ability for straightforward creation of arbitrary, time-dependent potential landscapes in which to study superfluid interactions, we were able to take a closer look at predictions of superfluid behavior that are decades old, but until now have never been tested directly. The purpose of this research was to draw direct analogies between superfluid BEC systems, which we term superfluid atom circuits, and existing superconducting circuits, thus allowing us to take advantage of much of the existing knowledge that has come from this well-studied field. Specifically, existing circuits and devices that have been created with superconductors give us insight into what might be possible someday with atom-circuit devices and inspiration to create them. In these experiments, we employed two different atom circuits; one classical (thermal ideal gas) and one quantum (ultracold superfluid). Our results show that each system is equivalent to an electronic circuit consisting of a capacitor being discharged through an inductor in series with some dissipative element. In the thermal system, dissipation can be described in terms of simple resistive flow with the resistance equivalent to ballistic, Sharvin resistance seen in electronic circuits. The superfluid measurements show that the dissipation is best described as a resistance-shunted Josephson junction, which is an analogue to similar devices in superconducting circuits. Additionally, the specific geometry of the atom circuit we used in our superfluid system allowed us to investigate directly a predicted mechanism responsible for the dissipation in superfluids caused by the generation of collective excitations, namely vortices. Direct observation of this mechanism has not previously been possible in superfluid helium and superconducting systems.
Superfluid flow past a potential barrier is a well studied problem in ultracold Bose gases, however, fewer studies have considered the case of flow through a disordered potential. Here we consider the case of a superfluid flowing through a channel containing multiple point-like barriers, randomly placed to form a disordered potential. We begin by identifying the relationship between the relative position of two point-like barriers and the critical velocity of such an arrangement. We then show that there is a mapping between the critical velocity of a system with two obstacles, and a system with a large number of obstacles. By establishing an initial superflow through a point-like disordered potential, moving faster than the critical velocity, we study how the superflow is arrested through the nucleation of vortices and the breakdown of superfluidity, a problem with interesting connections to quantum turbulence and coarsening. We calculate the vortex decay rate as the width of the barriers is increased, and show that vortex pinning becomes a more important effect for these larger barriers. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Critical velocity and dissipation mechanism in finite superfluid 4^44He nanodroplets
A hallmark of superfluidity is the frictionless motion of an object below the Landau critical velocity; Whether this concept applies to nanoscale droplets remains unclear. Using time-dependent density functional theory, we investigate the motion of a sodium atom on the surface and inside a superfluid helium nanodroplet. For surface motion, we identify a critical velocity above which energy dissipation through ripplon excitation and the formation of surface-bound quantized vortices leads to rapid deceleration. Inside the droplet, the atom is slowed down to a steady-state velocity that depends on the initial speed, contrasting experiments reporting a critical velocity for dopants ejected from droplets [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 153002 (2013)]. Remarkably, the velocity of the ejected atom is nearly independent of its initial velocity. We demonstrate that this behavior results from the bursting of the bubble surrounding the atom at the droplet surface, challenging the previous experimental interpretation.