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arXiv:1907.01795 · Physical Review Letters

Supersonic Rotation of a Superfluid: A Long-Lived Dynamical Ring

Yanliang Guo, Romain Dubessy, Mathieu de Goër de Herve, Avinash Kumar, Thomas Badr, A. Perrin, Laurent Longchambon, Hélène Perrin

Published Jan 13, 2020• 67 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present the experimental realization of a long-lived superfluid flow of a quantum gas rotating in an anharmonic potential, sustained by its own angular momentum. The gas is set into motion by rotating an elliptical deformation of the trap. An evaporation selective in angular momentum yields an acceleration of rotation until the density vanishes at the trap center, resulting in a dynamical ring with ≃350ℏ angular momentum per particle. The density profile of the ring corresponds to the one of a quasi two-dimensional superfluid, with a linear velocity reaching Mach 18 and a rotation lasting more than a minute.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.124.025301

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Fluid Dynamics Research•May 28, 2014•1 citation
We present the experimental realization of a long-lived superfluid flow of a quantum gas rotating in an anharmonic potential, sustained by its own angular momentum. The gas is set into motion by rotating an elliptical deformation of the trap. An evaporation selective in angular momentum yields an acceleration of rotation until the density vanishes at the trap center, resulting in a dynamical ring with ≃350ℏ angular momentum per particle. The density profile of the ring corresponds to the one of a quasi two-dimensional superfluid, with a linear velocity reaching Mach 18 and a rotation lasting more than a minute.
Degenerate quantum gases offer an ideal platform to study superfluidity. An annular superfluid has many subtle properties due to its topological geometry. In this manuscript, we present three ring-shaped superfluids, obtained with different formation mechanisms.The starting point of the experiments is a superfluid confined at the bottom of a bubble-shaped trap, generated by dressing atoms in a quadrupole trap with radio-frequency (rf) photons. Taking advantage of the smoothness of such an adiabatic trap allows us to realize these three annular superfluids.The first one is a levitating ring, formed on the surface of the bubble trap by compensating gravity. We study the structure taken by the atomic cloud related to fine effect of the rf polarization and the strong rf coupling. The second one is a ring trap, formed at the equator of the bubble with an additional blue detuned double light sheet. We set the annular gas into rotation by two methods, resulting in a persistent superfluid current and a quantized circulation. The last one is a fast-rotating dynamical ring, which forms under the effect of the centrifugal force. It is a long-lived supersonic superfluid whose linear velocity can reach Mach 18. We also evidence a collective mode of such a rapid rotating superfluid. The experimental realization of the dynamical ring is an important step towards the giant vortex regime.
Degenerate quantum gases offer an ideal platform to study superfluidity. An annular su- perfluid has many subtle properties due to its topological geometry. In this manuscript, we present three ring-shaped superfluids, obtained with different formation mechanisms. The starting point of the experiments is a superfluid confined at the bottom of a bubble- shaped trap, generated by dressing atoms in a quadrupole trap with radio-frequency (rf) photons. Taking advantage of the smoothness of such an adiabatic trap allows us to realize these three annular superfluids.The first one is a levitating ring, formed on the surface of the bubble trap by compensating gravity. We study the structure taken by the atomic cloud related to fine effect of the rf polarization and the strong rf coupling. The second one is a ring trap, formed at the equator of the bubble with an additional blue detuned double light sheet. We set the annular gas into rotation by two methods, resulting in a persistent superfluid current and a quantized circulation. The last one is a fast-rotating dynamical ring, which forms under the effect of the centrifugal force. It is a long-lived supersonic superfluid whose linear velocity can reach Mach18. We also evidence a collective mode of such a rapid rotating superfluid. The experimental realization of the dynamical ring is an important step towards the giant vortex regime
The irrotational nature of superfluids leads to spectacular rotational properties. For the fluid to rotate, its density must locally vanish at a singular point called a quantum vortex. The annular geometry is of great interest for studying superfluidity as the gas can rotate in this geometry around a central hole without requiring any singularity, allowing the existence of persistent currents along the ring with a quantized circulation. In out experiment, we confine cold atoms dressed by a radiofrequency field in an adiabatic potential based on a quadrupolar magnetic trap. The resulting bubble-shaped potential, both very smooth and easily tunable, allows us to produce two types of ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates. A first strategy consists in adding a far-detuned light sheet to confine the atoms at the intersection between the bubble and the horizontal plane imposed by the light field – i.e. a ring. We present the implementation and optimization of this trap and demonstrate the possibility to prepare and observe superfluid currents in the ring. A second path exploits the centrifugal force and the anharmonicity of the adiabatic potential to create an effective Mexican hat potential by rotating the trapped atoms at the bottom of the bubble faster than the trap frequency. After having realized such a system, we probe its quadrupolar modes to characterize the rotation. The study of vortex distribution in the rotating gas also shows a thermal melting effect of the finite temperature vortex lattice.
Weakly interacting atomic gases at ultra low temperatures are superfluid. Owing to the high degree of control they offer, these quantum gases give access to a wonderful playground to explore superfluid dynamics. In particular, quantum gases flowing inside waveguides can mimick the behavior of electrons in superconducting circuits, opening the new field of `atomtronics’. The elementary circuit is the ring, where the atomic circulation is expected to be quantized. I will discuss two opposite limits: the production and decay of a small current of a few quanta, and the fast rotation regime where the velocity exceeds the speed of sound.
Angular momentum coupling manifests widely in diverse physical systems, underpinning the emergent properties and collective dynamics across different scales. The tidal locking, which originates from the synchronization of rotational and orbital motions, has far-reaching impacts in celestial mechanics, reflecting fundamental processes of angular momentum transfer, energy dissipation, and evolution toward dynamical equilibrium. However, its counterpart in mesoscopic quantum fluids has remained largely unexplored. Here we demonstrate the emergence of quantum tidal locking in Bose-Einstein condensates undergoing central force motion in an anharmonic potential. The condensate follows a well-defined orbital trajectory in a static trap and experiences an effective rotating potential induced by the trap anharmonicity. The sustained geometric squeezing continuously deforms the condensate and drives a self-organized synchronization process, in which the intrinsic rotation gradually locks to the orbital motion. Numerical simulations further reveal the formation of a ring-shaped vortex array over longer timescales, arising from the coherent evolution of the rotating matter wave during the locking dynamics. Our findings establish quantum tidal locking in mesoscopic systems as a robust self-organized mechanism for generating and stabilizing circulating states.
A quantum liquid of an almost ideal Bose gas brought into rotation is investigated from a physical and mechanical point of view on the basis of the Gross–Pitaevskii (GP) equation by applying a quantum-mechanical scenario, i.e. the London scenario. This scenario allows a superfluid to have rotational states. Considering that the equation governs an interacting Bose gas, it is proposed that the GP equation admits rotational flows of a superfluid. This is carried out without incurring essential change of the equation. By this reformulation, a superfluid placed in a rotating vessel is able to have a solid body rotation with the same angular velocity as its container and also to have a meniscus approximated by a parabolic profile. The solid body rotation is accompanied by a density increase proportional to the square of its angular velocity. These are consistent with experimental observations. In addition, this formulation allows a vortex of quantized circulation with coaxial rotational core whose density does not necessarily vanish at its center.