Quantum Fluids

R Sashikanth

Phuong Mai Dinh, Jesús Navarro, E. Suraud

Quantum fluids are fluids, indeed. We have seen in the previous chapter what it means from a classical physics point of view. But quantum fluids are by definition ruled by quantum physics, as well. The goal of this chapter is to introduce some key concepts of quantum physics necessary to understand what makes a fluid a quantum one or rather what quantum property makes an ensemble of particles a quantum fluid. We are here precisely at the edge of our basic intuition of quantum physics. Indeed, one usually associates the notion of quantum object to a microscopic nature and it may thus a priori seem paradoxical to link the word quantum to a macroscopic object, such as the notion of fluid. Thinking it over a bit deeper, quantum physics is certainly present at all scales and we are confronted with quantum mechanics through the many electronic devices which have invaded our everyday life. And it actually turns out that, as we will see later on, most of these quantum devices are directly connected to the notion of quantum fluids, the case of electron fluids being certainly the most common one in such devices. Quantum physics has for sure deeply modified our everyday life. But it has also changed our perception of the world, and as we shall see in this chapter, it is precisely this new vision of the world which allows us to understand the concept of quantum fluids underlying so many physical systems.

Nguyen Van Hieu

We discuss quantum-mechanical many-body systems interacting with a topological field, known as topological quantum fields. Several topics on the theory of quantum fluids are examined. First we establish the existence of topological gauge fields in high-T c superconductors and in Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnets. Then we consider typical topological quantum fluids, known as quantum Hall fluids, which are systems exhibiting the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE). A theoretical model of these fluids is described in detail. We also discuss the long distance physics of topological quantum fluids, their topological order parameter and possible experimental tests of the theory.