Superfluid flow above the critical velocity

Superfluidity and superconductivity have been widely studied since the last century in many different contexts ranging from nuclear matter to atomic quantum gases. The rigidity of these systems with respect to external perturbations results in frictionless motion for superfluids and resistance-free...

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Main Authors: Paris-Mandoki, A., Shearring, Joe, Mancarella, F., Fromhold, T.M., Trombettoni, A., Kruger, Peter
Format: Article
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47055/
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author Paris-Mandoki, A.
Shearring, Joe
Mancarella, F.
Fromhold, T.M.
Trombettoni, A.
Kruger, Peter
author_facet Paris-Mandoki, A.
Shearring, Joe
Mancarella, F.
Fromhold, T.M.
Trombettoni, A.
Kruger, Peter
author_sort Paris-Mandoki, A.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Superfluidity and superconductivity have been widely studied since the last century in many different contexts ranging from nuclear matter to atomic quantum gases. The rigidity of these systems with respect to external perturbations results in frictionless motion for superfluids and resistance-free electric current flow in superconductors. This peculiar behaviour is lost when external perturbations overcome a critical threshold, i.e. above a critical magnetic field or a critical current for superconductors. In superfluids, such as liquid helium or ultracold gases, the corresponding quantities are a critical rotation rate and a critical velocity respectively. Enhancing the critical values is of great fundamental and practical value. Here we demonstrate that superfluidity can be completely restored for specific, arbitrarily large flow velocities above the critical velocity through quantum interference-induced resonances providing a nonlinear counterpart of the Ramsauer-Townsend effect occurring in ordinary quantum mechanics. We illustrate the robustness of this phenomenon through a thorough analysis in one dimension and prove its generality by showing the persistence of the effect in non-trivial 2d systems. This has far reaching consequences for the fundamental understanding of superfluidity and superconductivity and opens up new application possibilities in quantum metrology, e.g. in rotation sensing.
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spelling nottingham-470552020-05-04T19:01:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47055/ Superfluid flow above the critical velocity Paris-Mandoki, A. Shearring, Joe Mancarella, F. Fromhold, T.M. Trombettoni, A. Kruger, Peter Superfluidity and superconductivity have been widely studied since the last century in many different contexts ranging from nuclear matter to atomic quantum gases. The rigidity of these systems with respect to external perturbations results in frictionless motion for superfluids and resistance-free electric current flow in superconductors. This peculiar behaviour is lost when external perturbations overcome a critical threshold, i.e. above a critical magnetic field or a critical current for superconductors. In superfluids, such as liquid helium or ultracold gases, the corresponding quantities are a critical rotation rate and a critical velocity respectively. Enhancing the critical values is of great fundamental and practical value. Here we demonstrate that superfluidity can be completely restored for specific, arbitrarily large flow velocities above the critical velocity through quantum interference-induced resonances providing a nonlinear counterpart of the Ramsauer-Townsend effect occurring in ordinary quantum mechanics. We illustrate the robustness of this phenomenon through a thorough analysis in one dimension and prove its generality by showing the persistence of the effect in non-trivial 2d systems. This has far reaching consequences for the fundamental understanding of superfluidity and superconductivity and opens up new application possibilities in quantum metrology, e.g. in rotation sensing. Nature Publishing Group 2017-08-21 Article PeerReviewed Paris-Mandoki, A., Shearring, Joe, Mancarella, F., Fromhold, T.M., Trombettoni, A. and Kruger, Peter (2017) Superfluid flow above the critical velocity. Scientific Reports, 7 (1). 9070/1-9070/11. ISSN 2045-2322 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08941-8 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08941-8 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08941-8
spellingShingle Paris-Mandoki, A.
Shearring, Joe
Mancarella, F.
Fromhold, T.M.
Trombettoni, A.
Kruger, Peter
Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title_full Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title_fullStr Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title_full_unstemmed Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title_short Superfluid flow above the critical velocity
title_sort superfluid flow above the critical velocity
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47055/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47055/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47055/