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arXiv:2009.10534 · Physical Review Letters

Dynamics of a Vortex Lattice in an Expanding Polariton Quantum Fluid

Riccardo Panico, Guido Macorini, Lorenzo Dominici, Antonio Gianfrate, Antonio Fieramosca, Milena De Giorgi, Giuseppe Gigli, D. Sanvitto, Alessandra Sabina Lanotte, Dario Ballarini

Published Jul 21, 2021• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

If a quantum fluid is driven with enough angular momentum, at equilibrium the ground state of the system is given by a lattice of quantized vortices whose density is prescribed by the quantization of circulation. We report on the first experimental study of the Feynman-Onsager relation in a nonequilibrium polariton fluid, free to expand and rotate. Upon initially imprinting a lattice of vortices in the quantum fluid, we track the vortex core positions on picosecond timescales. We observe an accelerated stretching of the lattice and an outward bending of the linear trajectories of the vortices, due to the repulsive polariton interactions. Access to the full density and phase fields allows us to detect a small deviation from the Feynman-Onsager rule in terms of a transverse velocity component, due to the density gradient of the fluid envelope acting on the vortex lattice.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.127.047401

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If a quantum fluid is driven with enough angular momentum, at equilibrium the ground state of the system is given by a lattice of quantized vortices whose density is prescribed by the quantization of circulation. We report on the first experimental study of the Feynman-Onsager relation in a nonequilibrium polariton fluid, free to expand and rotate. Upon initially imprinting a lattice of vortices in the quantum fluid, we track the vortex core positions on picosecond timescales. We observe an accelerated stretching of the lattice and an outward bending of the linear trajectories of the vortices, due to the repulsive polariton interactions. Access to the full density and phase fields allows us to detect a small deviation from the Feynman-Onsager rule in terms of a transverse velocity component, due to the density gradient of the fluid envelope acting on the vortex lattice.
Quantum vortices, the quantized version of classical vortices, play a prominent role in superfluid and superconductor phase transitions. However, their exploration at a particle level in open quantum systems has gained considerable attention only recently. Here we study vortex pair interactions in a resonant polariton fluid created in a solid-state microcavity. By tracking the vortices on picosecond time scales, we reveal the role of nonlinearity, as well as of density and phase gradients, in driving their rotational dynamics. Such effects are also responsible for the split of composite spin-vortex molecules into elementary half-vortices, when seeding opposite vorticity between the two spinorial components. Remarkably, we also observe that vortices placed in close proximity experience a pull-push scenario leading to unusual scattering-like events that can be described by a tunable effective potential. Understanding vortex interactions can be useful in quantum hydrodynamics and in the development of vortex-based lattices, gyroscopes, and logic devices.
We study numerically the motion of vortices in nonequilibrium Bose–Einstein condensates, that are described by a generalized Gross–Pitaevskii equation. We analyze how the vortex properties are modified when moving away under deviation from equilibrium. We find that far from equilibrium, the radial component dominates over the azimuthal one in the distribution of vortex currents at large distances from the vortex core. The modification of the current pattern has a strong effect on the vortex–antivortex interaction energy, that can become entirely repulsive. The vortex trajectories are also strongly affected by the driving and dissipation. Self acceleration of vortices is observed in the strong nonequilibrium case.
Topological defects such as quantized vortices are one of the most striking manifestations of the superfluid nature of Bose-Einstein condensates and typical examples of quantum mechanical phenomena on a macroscopic scale. Here we demonstrate the formation of a lattice of vortex-antivortex pairs and study its properties in the nonlinear regime at high polariton-density where polariton-polariton interactions dominate the behavior of the system. In this work first we demonstrate that the array of vortex-antivortex pairs can be generated in a controllable way in terms of size of the array and in terms of size and shape of its fundamental unit cell. Then we demonstrate that polariton-polariton repulsion can strongly deform the lattice unit cell and determine the pattern distribution of the vortex-antivortex pairs, reaching a completely new behavior with respect to geometrically generated vortex lattices whose shape is determined only by the geometry of the system.
Spinorial or multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates may sustain fractional quanta of circulation, vorticant topological excitations with half integer windings of phase and polarization. Matter-light quantum fluids, such as microcavity polaritons, represent a unique test bed for realising strongly interacting and out-of-equilibrium condensates. The direct access to the phase of their wavefunction enables us to pursue the quest of whether half vortices ---rather than full integer vortices--- are the fundamental topological excitations of a spinor polariton fluid. Here, we are able to directly generate by resonant pulsed excitations, a polariton fluid carrying either the half or full vortex states as initial condition, and to follow their coherent evolution using ultrafast holography. Surprisingly we observe a rich phenomenology that shows a stable evolution of a phase singularity in a single component as well as in the full vortex state, spiraling, splitting and branching of the initial cores under different regimes and the proliferation of many vortex anti-vortex pairs in self generated circular ripples. This allows us to devise the interplay of nonlinearity and sample disorder in shaping the fluid and driving the phase singularities dynamics
The nonequilibrium dynamics of vortices in 2D quantum fluids are shown to obey a kinetic equation in which vortex tilt (ellipticity) is coupled to the gradient in background fluid density. In the absence of nonlinear interactions, a trapped, tilted vortex is analytically found to move in an elliptic trajectory that has the same orientation and aspect ratio as the vortex projection itself, allowing experimental measurement of vortex tilt via path observation. A combination of analysis and simulation is then used to show that nonlinear interactions cause the vortex tilt to precess, and that the rate of vortex precession is once again mimicked by a precession of the elliptical trajectory. Both vortex tilt and rate of precession can therefore be inferred by observing its motion in a trap. An ability to anticipate local vortex structure is expected to prove useful in designing few-vortex systems in which tilt is a ubiquitous, as-yet-unharnessed feature.
We theoretically investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum vortices in a two-dimensional rotating Bose-Einstein condensate following an interaction quench. Using an ab initio and numerically exact quantum many-body approach, we systematically tune the interplay between interaction strength and angular velocity to prepare quantum vortices in various configurations and examine their post-quench dynamics. Our study reveals distinct dynamical regimes: First, vortex distortion accompanied by density cloud fragmentation, matching the initial vortex number and second, vortex revival, where fragmented densities interact and merge. Notably, we observe complete vortex revival dynamics in the single-vortex case, pseudo-revival in double and triple vortex configurations, and chaotic many-body dynamics in systems with multiple vortices. Our results reveal a universal out-of-equilibrium response of quantum vortices to interaction quenches, highlighting the importance of many-body effects with a possible exploration in quantum simulation with ultracold quantum fluids.