Using a self-devised numerical approach, we developed a powerful tool to investigate vortex properties and interactions in mean-field theories for superconductors and superfluids, based on fixing the vortex phase distribution in the energy minimization process. The method was applied to (i) multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and (ii) superconductors with single- or multi-component superconducting condensates. In these systems, vortex-vortex interaction and other key vortex features are analytically described only in specific regimes, that do not account for a large part of vortex behavior observed experimentally. In multi-component BECs, for example, the vortex-vortex interaction is only known for inter-vortex distances much greater than the healing length, i.e. far from the vortex core. Under our approach, by assuming multi-vortex structures, within Gross-Pitaevskii theory, we report the vortex-vortex interaction in the full range of distances, capturing the mechanism behind unusual vortex conformations previously reported in literature, such as bound clusters with two or three vortices. Usually, these clusters emerge from a competition between intra- and inter-component vortex interaction, but we demonstrate they can also emerge from the phase-frustration between the components. In superconductors, the description of vortex-vortex interaction is usually restricted to bulk or very thin films, and most of the key vortex features, such as the spatial magnetic field and current density profiles, are known only in the limit of London theory, i.e. for coherence length negligible as compared to magnetic field penetration depth and other system dimensions. The parametric range outside this limit is actually relevant to many materials. We fill that gap by applying our method to Ginzburg-Landau theory. The vortex structure is investigated for single- and two-gap bulk superconductors, outside the London regime. This enables us to extend analytical expressions describing the condensate and magnetic profiles around the vortex available in literature by numerical calculations and suitable fitting functions. We expand our approach to account for films with finite thickness, to connect our findings to both bulk and Pearl’s description by adjusting the sample thickness. This also allowed us to describe how vortex configurations change for samples with intermediate thickness, where we observe the effective magnetic response of the superconductor changing between the textbook type-1 and type-2 behaviors, in a nontrivial manner, governed by the non-monotonic vortex interaction. As a result of a detailed analysis, we propose new critical parameters to define the crossover between different regimes and establish their relation with the superconducting critical fields.
Using a self-devised numerical approach, we developed a powerful tool to investigate vortex properties and interactions in mean-field theories for superconductors and superfluids, based on fixing the vortex phase distribution in the energy minimization process. The method was applied to (i) multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and (ii) superconductors with single- or multi-component superconducting condensates. In these systems, vortex-vortex interaction and other key vortex features are analytically described only in specific regimes, that do not account for a large part of vortex behavior observed experimentally. In multi-component BECs, for example, the vortex-vortex interaction is only known for inter-vortex distances much greater than the healing length, i.e. far from the vortex core. Under our approach, by assuming multi-vortex structures, within Gross-Pitaevskii theory, we report the vortex-vortex interaction in the full range of distances, capturing the mechanism behind unusual vortex conformations previously reported in literature, such as bound clusters with two or three vortices. Usually, these clusters emerge from a competition between intra- and inter-component vortex interaction, but we demonstrate they can also emerge from the phase-frustration between the components. In superconductors, the description of vortex-vortex interaction is usually restricted to bulk or very thin films, and most of the key vortex features, such as the spatial magnetic field and current density profiles, are known only in the limit of London theory, i.e. for coherence length negligible as compared to magnetic field penetration depth and other system dimensions. The parametric range outside this limit is actually relevant to many materials. We fill that gap by applying our method to Ginzburg-Landau theory. The vortex structure is investigated for single- and two-gap bulk superconductors, outside the London regime. This enables us to extend analytical expressions describing the condensate and magnetic profiles around the vortex available in literature by numerical calculations and suitable fitting functions. We expand our approach to account for films with finite thickness, to connect our findings to both bulk and Pearl’s description by adjusting the sample thickness. This also allowed us to describe how vortex configurations change for samples with intermediate thickness, where we observe the effective magnetic response of the superconductor changing between the textbook type-1 and type-2 behaviors, in a nontrivial manner, governed by the non-monotonic vortex interaction. As a result of a detailed analysis, we propose new critical parameters to define the crossover between different regimes and establish their relation with the superconducting critical fields.
We numerically study the vortex-vortex interaction in multicomponent homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates within the realm of the Gross-Pitaevskii theory. We provide strong evidence that pairwise vortex interaction captures the underlying mechanisms which determine the geometric configuration of the vortices, such as different lattices in many-vortex states, as well as the bound vortex states with two (dimer) or three (trimer) vortices. Specifically, we discuss and apply our theoretical approach to investigate intra- and intercomponent vortex-vortex interactions in two- and three-component Bose-Einstein condensates, thereby shedding light on the formation of the exotic vortex configurations. These results correlate with current experimental efforts in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates and the understanding of the role of vortex interactions in multiband superconductors.
We explore vortices in non-equilibrium Dirac Bose-Einstein condensates (Dirac BEC) described by a stationary Dirac Gross-Pitaevskii equations (GPE). We find that the multi-component structure of Dirac equation enables the difference in phase winding of two condensates with respective phase winding number differing by one, ℓa−ℓb=±1. We observe three classes of vortex states distinguished by their far-field behavior: A ring soliton on either of the two components in combination with a vortex on the other component, and, in the case of strong inter-component interactions, a vortex profile on both components. The latter are multiple core vortices due to the phase winding difference between the components. We also address the role of a Haldane gap on these vortices, which has a similar effect than inter-component by making the occupation on either sublattice more costly. We employ a numerical shooting method to reliably identify vortex solutions and use it to scan large parts of the phase space. We then use a classification algorithm on the integrated wavefunctions to establish a phase diagram of the different topological sectors.
Vortices and vortex lattices play a major role in determining the transport properties of type-II superconductors[1–3], and enable a platform to investigate exotic superconducting physics[4,5]. The study of vortex matter has generally focused on novel states in 2D films and structures, and has recently moved to investigating systems with constrained dimensions and smaller vortex numbers[6–11]. Vortices are responsible, for example, for some electrical transport regimes in superconducting films, as well as the Berezinkskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in superconducting films[12]. Unconventional forms of superconductivity, such as the spin triplet pairing predicted in Sr2RuO4, or in topological insulators paired to s-wave superconductors, contain two condensates that may support two vortex lattices, and may display Majorana modes, signatures of which may have been seen in other superconducting systems[13–17]. The vortex-vortex interactions, or inter and intra-condensate couplings in multicondensate systems, are important parameters that characterize the behavior of the systems that display such phenomena[18–20]. In investigating these parameters, a technique that can both probe the energies in a system, as well as manipulate the vortices therein, has long been desired. In this work, we report on progress in determining the energy scales of vortex systems, as well as limited control over the vortex motion. Using a technique based on magnetic force microscopy, we can directly measure the resonant motion of vortices present in a superconducting lattice. We use a scanning magnetic tip to trap a small number of vortices in a superconducting Josephson junction array near the tip. By observing the resonant motion of the configuration of vortices, a map of the location of energy degeneracies between different stable configurations is generated. From this data, we use a simulation to extract the relative strengths of the characteristic energy scales for the system, including the vortex-magnetic field interaction, the vortex-vortex interaction strength, and the chemical potential for the vortices. The simulations for small numbers of vortices fits the data well for multiple field profiles and lattice spacings. The ability to tune the vortex number and configurations by changing the magnetic field profile from the tip, as well as the lattice parameters of the superconducting surface, are key portions of this technique. We demonstrate that the relative strengths of the chemical potential and vortex-vortex interactions can be tuned relative to the vortex-magnetic field energy by changing the lattice spacing of the array. We also show that by moving the tip farther from or closer to the surface, which changes the potential well from the tip, that the configurations of vortices can be modified. From the experiments, we show that this technique can be used to both extract the strengths of the relative energy scales in this system and other superconducting systems, as well as for manipulating the vortex configurations for quantum computation applications.
In this thesis, we analytically and numerically study two different scenarios of vortex dynamics in a two-dimensional superfluid. The first system we explore is an expanding cluster of like-sign vortices, which recently suggested it could explain observations in a superfluid optomechanics experiment. We employ a recent theoretical model that approximates large collections of vortices as a fluid and present an analytic solution for its dynamics. Analysis suggests that as a cluster expands due to thermal friction, it forms a Rankine vortex (i.e., a top-hat distribution) that expands self-similarly in time regardless of initial vorticity distribution. Numerical simulations of point vortices confirm this universal expanding regime and further demonstrates vortex lattice formation that goes beyond the vortex fluid theory. We analyse correlations that emerge in the resulting lattices and observe decaying disorder as the cluster expands. Furthermore, we analyse experimental data from a quasi-two-dimensional 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate, which supports the vortex fluid theory’s predictions.The second scenario considers the dynamics of a scattering event where a single quantum vortex interacts with a uniform, circular pinning potential in a steady two-dimensional superfluid flow. We first develop an approximate hydrodynamical model to understand the interaction between the vortex and the pinning potential in the conservative regime and find it is in good agreement with the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the low-velocity limit. We further solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for higher background velocities to study how the vortex moves around pinning sites, interacts with it, and ultimately becomes pinned. We uncover four different regimes of vortex pinning, each marked with a characteristic emission of sound energy. Finally, we study how vortices become unpinned from a pinning site, revealing large vortex dipoles form to stabilise the system.Our work in this thesis takes significant steps towards advancing knowledge of both the collective dynamics of vortices and their individual interaction with defects upon surface substrates. Our numerical and analytical results opens up new avenues of exploration be it further understanding dissipation mechanisms in two-dimensional superfluids, or elucidating the nature of vortex pinning in systems such as neutron stars.
This thesis presents four research papers in the field of condensed-matter theory. Three of the papers make use of large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations to explore various aspects of Bose-Einstein condensates with multiple superfluid components. Papers I and II relate to a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate in three spatial dimensions under rotation. They explore the phase diagram and phase transitions of the model in two regimes, where either inter- or intra-component interactions dominates, as well as at a special SU(2)-symmetric point where all density-density interactions are of equal strength. We find that this rich phase diagram, in the coexisting regime, exhibits co-centered vortex lattices with hexagonal symmetry when the inter-component interaction is attractive. These lattices evolve into intercalated hexagonal lattices as the inter-component interaction is made repulsive, and further into intercalated square lattices as the repulsive interaction is increased in strength. In the phase-separated regime, we find striped vortex lattices for intermediate inter-component coupling strengths. For sufficiently strong inter-component coupling strengths one of the condensates is completely depleted, while the other develops a hexagonal vortex line lattice, as it is effectively a single-component condensate.\n\nPaper III investigates the phases and phase transitions of a similar model of a two-component condensate, now in two spatial dimensions with spin-orbit coupling and zero rotation. Here we find, for low inter-component coupling strength, that the effect of the spin-orbit interaction is to modulate the condensate fields by a single q-vector, a plane wave state. For increased inter-component couplings, but with intermediate spin-orbit coupling, we again find that one of the condensates will be depleted, making the remaining condensate effectively a single-component condensate. This completely removes the effect of the spin-orbit interaction. For both high inter-component and high spin-orbit interaction strengths, we find that the condensate forgoes the energy gained by depleting one condensate. It will rather modulate the condensate, but now with staggered condensate amplitudes. This state is a superposition of two states with modulation vectors q and - q, a standing wave state. We also explore the thermal phase transitions in the absence of spin-orbit couplings, here we find Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions in all components regardless of whether or not one component has collapsed, and independent on the value of the inter-component density-density interaction strength.\n\nThe last paper explores, in a purely analytical treatment, the effect of inter-band Josephson couplings on an N-component London superconductor. It utilizes a mathematical identity to re-express the model in terms of integer-valued superconducting currents, and we show that the inclusion of inter-band couplings introduces instanton-like events in these currents. These events effectively removes the current conservation in each individual superconducting current, as is expected when introducing the Josephson coupling. However, one particular combination of current, the sum of all the currents, remains conserved even with the Josepshon coupling. We argue that this converts the phase transitions of the neutral sector into crossovers, while leaving the charged phase transition unaffected. The fluctuations of the neutral sector will weaken, but may still influence the charged fluctuations sufficiently to preempt the remaining inverted-3DXY transition, making it first order. We also re-express the onset of the Higgs mass when entering the superconducting state as a blowout of loops of superconducting current.
Abstract Chapter 13 addresses Bose condensation in superfluids (and superconductors), which involves the field operator ψ having a c-number component (<ψ(x,t)>≠0), challenging number conservation. The nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation is derived for this condensate wave function <ψ>=ψ−ψ˜, facilitating identification of the coherence length and the core region of vortex motion. The noncondensate Green’s function G˜1(1,1′)=−i<(ψ˜(1)ψ˜+(1′))+> and the nonvanishing anomalous correlation function F˜∗(2,1′)=−i<(ψ˜+(2)ψ˜+(1′))+> describe the dynamics and elementary excitations of the non-condensate states and are discussed in conjunction with Landau’s criterion for viscosity. Associated concepts of off-diagonal long-range order and the interpretation of <ψ> as a superfluid order parameter are also introduced. Anderson’s Bose-condensed state, as a phase-coherent wave packet superposition of number states, resolves issues of number conservation. Superconductivity involves bound Cooper pairs of electrons capable of Bose condensation and superfluid behavior. Correspondingly, the two-particle Green’s function has a term involving a product of anomalous bound-Cooper-pair condensate wave functions of the type F(1,2)=−i<(ψ(1)ψ(2))+>≠0, such that G2(1,2;1′,2′)=F(1,2)F+(1′,2′)+G˜2(1,2;1′,2′). Here, G˜2 describes the dynamics/excitations of the non-superfluid-condensate states, while nonvanishing F,F+ represent a phase-coherent wave packet superposition of Cooper-pair number states and off-diagonal long range order. Employing this form of G2 in the G1-equation couples the condensed state with the non-condensate excitations. Taken jointly with the dynamical equation for F(1,2), this leads to the Gorkov equations, encompassing the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) energy gap, critical temperature, and Bogoliubov-de Gennes eigenfunction Bogoliubons. Superconductor thermodynamics and critical magnetic field are discussed. For a weak magnetic field, the Gorkov-equations lead to Ginzburg–Landau theory and a nonlinear Schrödinger-like equation for the pair wave function and the associated supercurrent, along with identification of the Cooper pair density. Furthermore, Chapter 13 addresses the apparent lack of gauge invariance of London theory with an elegant variational analysis involving re-gauging the potentials, yielding a manifestly gauge invariant generalization of the London equation. Consistency with the equation of continuity implies the existence of Anderson’s acoustic normal mode, which is supplanted by the plasmon for Coulomb interaction. Type II superconductors and the penetration (and interaction) of quantized magnetic flux lines are also discussed. Finally, Chapter 13 addresses Josephson tunneling between superconductors.