Abstract Chapter 2 describes the basic knowledge of Bose-condensed systems in order to study the quantum hydrodynamics for both the superfluid helium and the atomic-gas BECs in the following sections. Starting from the field theoretical formulation, we will first give a self-contained explanation of the derivation of the most fundamental GP equation for weakly interacting Bose gases at zero temperature. We will also highlight the theoretical treatment for incorporating the concept of elementary excitations to describe low-energy excitations of Bose systems, the definition of normal and superfluid components, and eventually the celebrated model of two-fluid hydrodynamics. Finally, the microscopic structure and dynamics of topological excitations obtained from the GP equation are discussed by exemplifying solitons, vortex lines, and vortex rings.
Abstract Chapter 2 describes the basic knowledge of Bose-condensed systems in order to study the quantum hydrodynamics for both the superfluid helium and the atomic-gas BECs in the following sections. Starting from the field theoretical formulation, we will first give a self-contained explanation of the derivation of the most fundamental GP equation for weakly interacting Bose gases at zero temperature. We will also highlight the theoretical treatment for incorporating the concept of elementary excitations to describe low-energy excitations of Bose systems, the definition of normal and superfluid components, and eventually the celebrated model of two-fluid hydrodynamics. Finally, the microscopic structure and dynamics of topological excitations obtained from the GP equation are discussed by exemplifying solitons, vortex lines, and vortex rings.
Abstract Chapter 4 addresses the progress of studies on superfluid dynamics, mainly related to the dynamics of quantized vortices, in cold-atom BECs. First, we give a minimal description of the physics of cold atoms, e.g. cooling, trapping, control of interatomic interactions by external fields. We then turn to the argument of superfluid hydrodynamics in a scalar BEC characterized by a single-component order parameter. The properties of the vortices can be well described on the basis of the GP model, which allows a quantitative comparison between theory and experiment. We will discuss topics such as single vortex dynamics, interacting dynamics of a few vortices, vortex lattice formation in a rotating BEC, and collective properties of a vortex lattice in a rapidly rotating BEC, which have been unraveled experimentally by direct visualization of vortices in condensed gases. Next, we will discuss the properties of vortices in multicomponent BECs characterized by the multicomponent order parameters. We will first explain the vortex physics in two-component BECs as a simple case, finding that their structures and dynamics are highly nontrivial due to the presence of the intercomponent interaction; we will cover the topics of vortex structure composed of two-component order parameters, dynamics of composite vortices, exotic vortex lattices, and hydrodynamic instabilities associated with the interface dynamics between immiscible condensates. Finally, we explain the vortices in a spinor BEC. The vortex structures are extremely rich due to the complicated order parameter manifold, which is clarified by the discussion on vortices in spin-1 and spin-2 spinor BECs.
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.
In 1995 two different research groups observed for the first time the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in ultracold gases. When the confining magnetic trap was turned off the gas was left free to expand, and the velocity of the particles showed a clear peak: most of the particles were occupying the same single particle state, the one of lowest energy. The Bose-Einstein condensation had been predicted in 1925 by Einstein, written by inspiration of a work on the statistic of the photons by Bose (1924). In this work Bose described the behavior of an ensemble of photons, treating them as massless particles, with no number conservation associated. Einstein extended this approach to particles with a mass and with fixed number, creating what is now called the Bose-Einstein distribution. The particles that follow such a description are called ``bosons'', as opposed to the ``fermions'' of the Fermi-Dirac statistics. Einstein predicted that in a gas of bosons - under a critical temperature - a finite fraction of the total number of particles would have been in the ground state, and act as a single entity. This amusing theoretical discovery found its utility a few years later. In the late thirties, new techniques allowed to cool Helium-4 at few Kelvins above the absolute zero. The properties of the resulting liquid were a puzzlement to the scientific community: among others, it could flow without experiencing friction. The liquid was called a ``superfluid''. A first explanation was given by London in 1938, which linked the superfluid behavior to the presence of a BEC among the bosonic Helium particles. The fermions cannot condense by themselves. On the other hand, they can form bound pairs and act as bosons, as it happens in a metal at low temperature. Using this approach, in 1957 Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer created a successful model of superconductivity by describing a superconductor as a superfluid in a charged system. During the course of these years we explored the superfluid properties of Bosons and Fermions in different settings. The original contributions of the thesis are described starting from the third chapter, where we speak about the generation and stability of solitons in a periodic optical lattices, both fixed or in motion. In the fourth chapter we study the generation of giant vortices in cold fermions, by using a generalized hydrodynamical approach. In chapter 5 we study the effect of a quasiperiodic lattice and the glassy phase it produces on a gas of bosons. Finally, we study the interaction of normal matter and superfluids with gravitational waves. While this interaction is seen to be extremely small, we believe that the resulting formalism is interesting by itself.
Just a couple decades ago bosonic low-temperature physics was synonymous with one particular liquid at a temperature of several degrees Kelvin. This liquid, helium-4, and its famous Helium-II phase, has revealed remarkable quantum properties such as quantized vortices and second sound. Yet, despite many things learned by investigating helium, its study has certain limitations. On the one hand, helium is a strongly interacting liquid, which makes first-principles theoretical research challenging. To name one example, establishing a connection between the non-interacting condensate state described by Bose and Einstein, and the helium properties observed in the lab took decades. Furthermore, helium is a specific chemical element, and hence there is no surprise that its physical properties are fixed by nature. However, every particular chemical element has particular physical properties, so for a long time it seemed that it was as good as it gets. The picture has changed drastically when the first Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) was observed in an ultracold atomic gas. “Low temperature” has become synonymous with “ultracold”, and the latter implies temperatures on the order of nanokelvins. Most strikingly, the relationship between what is fixed by nature and what is experimentally changeable has evolved. In particular, systems of different particle statistics, spin, and interactions have been engineered using ultracold vapours of various alkali atoms. This versatile manipulation not only makes emulating various condensed-matter physics models in a controlled system without impurities possible, but also opens a path towards novel phenomena that are at present not achievable in any other manner. In this thesis, we have explored some of the novel phenomena that arise in systems of bosonic particles with internal degrees of freedom, such as (pseudo)spin and electric dipole moment. In the introduction, we describe a ferromagnetically coupled spin-1/2 Bose gas with contact interactions in the mean- field approximation. In particular, we compute and discuss the phase diagram of this gas, since it is a simple system which nevertheless has two order parameters. In the chapters that follow, the ideas touched upon in the introduction are developed in more detail. In Chapter 2 we develop a hydrodynamic description of the ferromagnetic spin-1/2 Bose gas at arbitrary temperatures. We study magnetization relaxation and geometric forces. In particular, we consider the topological Hall effect due to the presence of a skyrmion. In Chapter 3 we investigate the miscible (non-ferromagnetic) spin-1/2 Bose gas at arbitrary temperatures, construct its hydrodynamic description, calculate the thermodynamic properties, and study the collective modes of this system. In Chapter 4 we discuss the influence of the off-diagonal Berry curvature on the Bose-Einstein condensation temperature. Finally, in Chapter 5 we study a Bose-Einstein condensate of dipolar molecules in a weak electric field and find it to be described by a quantum rotor model. Moreover, we show that the molecular Bose-Einstein condensate is a ferroelectric material that is fully disordered by quantum fluctuations.
The aim of this paper is to derive the equations of motion of quantum vortices in a weakly non-ideal Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) at finite temperatures and in the presence of macroscopic superfluid and normal velocities. The motivation for this work is that the dynamics of quantum vortices in superfluid helium has been studied at the phenomenological level, and a number of issues require clarification, which can be addressed by studying the corresponding problem in BEC. In BEC, quantum vortices are located at points where the macroscopic wave function (MWF) ψ(r,T), which describes the BEC dynamics, vanishes ψ(r,T)=0. The intersection of the surfaces Reψ(r,T)=0 and Imψ(r,T)=0 forms a one-dimensional line, which is just the quantum vortex line. During the evolution of the MWF, the position of the zero surfaces changes, that is, the vortex lines move. Conversely, the motion of these vortex filaments determines the evolution of the MWF. Thus, there is a mutual correspondence, and the quantity ψ(r,T) can be considered as a functional of the entire vortex configuration, i.e., {s(ξ,t)}. This viewpoint allows us to derive the equations of motion for vortices from the Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE), which describes the dynamics of MWF. The key finding is the confirmation that the equation derived from the fundamental quantum description (the GPE) for a BEC has the same mathematical structure as the equation derived from macroscopic, phenomenological reasoning for superfluid helium.
Abstract This book serves as a comprehensive textbook on quantum hydrodynamics and quantum turbulence, focusing on the hydrodynamics of quantum-condensed systems at low temperatures. A defining feature of these systems is the presence of an order parameter, leading to unique phenomena such as inviscid superfluid flow and vortex quantization—characteristics absent in classical hydrodynamics. The turbulence arising in these systems is known as quantum turbulence. This field lies at the intersection of several disciplines, including low-temperature condensed matter physics, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and nonlinear and non-equilibrium physics. The primary systems discussed in this book are superfluid 4He, superfluid 3He, and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). The study of quantum hydrodynamics began with the discovery of quantum turbulence in superfluid 4He in the 1950s. Superfluid 3He, discovered in 1972, was the first anisotropic superfluid, providing a platform to explore various topological defects. The realization of atomic BECs in 1995 through laser cooling marked a significant breakthrough, offering precise control over condensates and enabling the visualization of quantized vortices. In crafting this book, we aimed to present a unified narrative that emphasizes the common physics underlying these systems, rather than treating them in isolation. The content is tailored for first-year graduate students, ensuring clarity without the need for supplementary references. As both authors are theorists, we have placed a stronger emphasis on theoretical aspects over experimental findings.