The question of the critical velocities of superfluid motion in a homogeneous, slightly nonideal two-component Bose gas with point interactions between particles is examined on the basis of the Landau criterion. It is shown that in the motion of the components with different velocities, the velocity of each component is not necessarily less than the minimal phase velocity of the elementary excitations in the nonmoving condensate. The Landau criterion leads to a joint condition on the values of the velocities of the components and the angle between them. It is found that the maximum value of the critical velocity of a given component can be achieved when the other component is at rest or when the components move in mutually perpendicular directions. The results are generalized to the case of a long-range interaction between particles and also for an inhomogeneous two-component Bose gas confined in a cylindrical harmonic potential. It is shown that in these cases the behavior of the critical velocities is qualitatively similar to that in a homogeneous two-component system with point interactions.
The question of the critical velocities of superfluid motion in a homogeneous, slightly nonideal two-component Bose gas with point interactions between particles is examined on the basis of the Landau criterion. It is shown that in the motion of the components with different velocities, the velocity of each component is not necessarily less than the minimal phase velocity of the elementary excitations in the nonmoving condensate. The Landau criterion leads to a joint condition on the values of the velocities of the components and the angle between them. It is found that the maximum value of the critical velocity of a given component can be achieved when the other component is at rest or when the components move in mutually perpendicular directions. The results are generalized to the case of a long-range interaction between particles and also for an inhomogeneous two-component Bose gas confined in a cylindrical harmonic potential. It is shown that in these cases the behavior of the critical velocities is qualitatively similar to that in a homogeneous two-component system with point interactions.
In this work we discuss the Landau criterion for anisotropic superfluidity. To this end we consider a pointlike impurity moving in a uniform Bose-Einstein condensate with either interparticle dipole-dipole interaction or Raman-induced spin-orbit coupling. In both cases we find that the Landau critical velocity vc is generally smaller than the sound velocity in the moving direction. Beyond vc, the energy dissipation rate is explicitly calculated via a perturbation approach. In the plane-wave phase of a spin-orbit-coupled Bose gas, the dissipationless motion is suppressed by the Raman coupling even in the direction orthogonal to the recoil momentum. Our predictions can be tested in the experiments with ultracold atoms.
This thesis examines the manifestation of the critical velocity for superfluidity in dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Superfluidity is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon characterised by unique properties such as frictionless flow, high thermal conductivity and the presence of quantised vortices. Our study focuses on what is arguably the most well-known attribute: the ability for an object to move through a superfluid without experiencing a drag force when travelling below a threshold critical velocity.The Landau criterion for superfluidity predicts the critical velocity in a BEC is equal to the speed of sound, and this conclusion is supported by a large body of theoretical work. However, a number of experiments have observed lower critical velocities than theory predicts. In the first part of this thesis, we numerically model experiments on the superfluid critical velocity of an elongated, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate as reported by [P. Engels and C. Atherton, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 160405 (2007)]. These experiments swept a repulsive obstacle, formed by a optical dipole potential, through the long axis of a condensate at constant velocity. Their results found an increase in the resulting density fluctuations of the condensate above an obstacle velocity of v _ 0:3 mm s
Abstract This chapter presents a general discussion of the phenomenon of superfluidity, starting from the famous Landau criterion for the critical velocity. The Landau expression for the normal (non-superfluid) component of the gas, expressed in terms of the elementary excitations of the system, is derived. The relationship between Bose–Einstein condensation and the phenomenon of superfluidity is outlined, with special focus on the role played by the phase of the order parameter, whose gradient fixes the velocity of the superfluid. The chapter derives the hydrodynamic equations of superfluids at both zero and finite temperatures and discuss the solutions for first and second sound. The formalism of quantum hydrodynamics is presented, with an application to the Beliaev decay of phonons and to the calculation of the fluctuations of the phase. It also discusses the consequences for superfluidity on the rotational properties and the spatial structure of vortex lines.
The flow of a uniform Bose gas at speeds greater than the Landau critical velocity vc does not necessarily destroy superfluidity, but rather needs only to lead to a decrease of the superfluid mass density ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$. Analyzing a weakly interacting Bose gas with a finite-range interparticle interaction that leads to a Landau critical velocity at nonzero quasiparticle momentum, we explicitly construct the (nonuniform) condensate for fluid flow faster than vc and calculate the accompanying decrease in ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$. We briefly comment on the relation of the physics to other problems in superfluids, e.g., solitons and vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates, and critical currents in superconductors.
An impurity immersed in a superfluid can move without friction when its velocity is below a critical value. This phenomenon can be explained by the famous Landau criterion, according to which, the critical velocity is determined by the elementary excitation spectrum of the superfluid. Landau critical velocity has been measured in the isotropic superfluid, such as the liquid He-Ⅱ and the Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute atomic gases, where the onset of dissipation is due to the creation of roton and phonon, respectively. The recent realization of synthetic spin-orbit coupling in quantum gas opens up possibilities for the study of novel superfluidity with ultracold atoms. To date, a specific type of spin-orbit coupling, which is generated by a pair of Raman laser beams, has been achieved in a Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb experimentally. Remarkably, the excitation spectrum of this system is anisotropic and can be feasibly tuned by the external laser field. While the anisotropic dynamics has been observed experimentally, the critical velocity has not been measured so far. It is a conventional wisdom that in an anisotropic superfluid, the critical velocity is determined by the excitation spectrum in the moving direction of the impurity. However, this is not always the case. In this work, we investigate the motion of a point-like impurity in a spin-orbit-coupled condensate with the spin-dependent interatomic interaction. In the vicinity of the quantum phase transition between the plane-wave (PW) phase and the zero-momentum (ZM) phase, the onset of the dissipation is due to the emission of a phonon, and the Landau critical velocity vc depends on the anisotropic sound velocity. While the sound velocity varies smoothly across the PW-ZM phase transition, the critical velocity in the direction perpendicular to the axis of spin-orbit coupling exhibits a sudden jump at the phase boundary. The value of vc on the PW phase side of the transition is generally smaller than the one on the ZM phase side, and the jump amplitude of vc is an increasing function of the spin-dependent interaction strength. Beyond the critical velocity, the energy dissipation rate of the impurity is explicitly calculated via a perturbation approach. The discontinuity of vc at the phase boundary can be clearly seen from the dissipation curves, which can be measured through the heating of the condensate. Our prediction can be tested in the current experiments with ultracold atoms.
The excitation spectrum for symmetric two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BECs) in optical lattices is obtained, with emphasis on its quantitative dependence on intercomponent interaction parameter. The resulting two branches of the excitation spectrum have a linear spectrum asymptotically in the low momentum limit, which is expected as a behavior of superfluid. The critical superfluid velocity, depending on the intercomponent interaction parameter, is then obtained, which is quite different from the result obtained in other reference. A requirement of real excitation spectrum also results in a condition on the interaction parameters, which coincides with the phase separation condition. Hence in real spectrum excitation, it is proposed that there should be two branches of superfluid with different critical superfluid velocities, while in the complex spectrum it is predicted that there should be phase separation in the two-branch superfluid system. The excitation spectrum for an asymmetric two-component BEC system is also presented and analyzed.