Symmetry-breaking vortex-lattice of a binary superfluid in a rotating bucket

We study spontaneous-symmetry-broken phase-separated vortex lattice in a weakly interacting uniform rapidly rotating binary Bose superfluid contained in a quasi-two-dimensional circular or square bucket. For the inter-species repulsion above a critical value, the two superfluid components separate and form a demixed phase with practically no overlap in the vortex lattices of the two components, which will permit an efficient experimental observation of such vortices and study their properties. In case of a circular bucket with equal intra-species energies of the two components, the two components separate into two non-overlapping semicircular domains for all frequencies of rotation Ω generating distinct demixed vortex lattices. In case of a binary Bose superfluid in both circular and square buckets, (a) the number of vortices increases linearly with Ω in agreement with a suggestion by Feynman, and (b) the rotational energy in the rotating frame decreases quadratically with Ω in agreement with a suggestion by Fetter.     

Observation of superfluid flow in a bose-einstein condensed Gas

We have studied the hydrodynamic flow in a Bose-Einstein condensate stirred by a macroscopic object, a blue-detuned laser beam, using nondestructive in situ phase contrast imaging. A critical velocity for the onset of a pressure gradient has been observed, and shown to be density dependent. The technique has been compared to a calorimetric method used previously to measure the heating induced by the motion of the laser beam.     

Fluctuations and superfluid flow

The effect of fluctuations are considered on the properties of the oscillating superfluid flow in the analogue of the Josephson effect in superfluid helium.     

Diaphragm-driven flow in rotating superfluid He-B

We present the theory used to analyse experiments at Manchester University in which we observe the normal modes of transverse vibration of a Kapton diaphragm separating two nominally identical disc-shaped regions of superfluid ³He, each of height 100 μm and diameter 40 mm. From the mode frequencies we deduce information on the superfluid density and hence on strong coupling corrections to the energy gap. From the dissipation the first and second viscosities, η and ξ₃, of the fluid can be obtained. Rotation of the experiment about an axis perpendicular to the diaphragm creates a lattice of quantised vortex lines. We show how the mutual friction parameters B and B′ can be determined from the effect of the vortices on the normal modes of the diaphragm.     

Nonequilibrium dynamics and superfluid ring excitations in binary Bose-Einstein condensates

We revisit a classic study [D. S. Hall, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1539 (1998)10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1539] of interpenetrating Bose-Einstein condensates in the hyperfine states |F=1,m{f}=-1 identical with |1 and |F=2,m{f}=+1 identical with |2 of 87Rb and observe striking new nonequilibrium component separation dynamics in the form of oscillating ringlike structures. The process of component separation is not significantly damped, a finding that also contrasts sharply with earlier experimental work, allowing a clean first look at a collective excitation of a binary superfluid. We further demonstrate extraordinary quantitative agreement between theoretical and experimental results using a multicomponent mean-field model with key additional features: the inclusion of atomic losses and the careful characterization of trap potentials (at the level of a fraction of a percent).     

The instability of the surface of helium crystal in a superfluid flow

The problem on crystal growth under conditions of normal incidence of fluid on the boundary is investigated for stability. The threshold velocity of the emergence of instability is found; at low temperatures, this velocity proves to be much lower than the sound velocity. The stability is examined of the shape of cylindrical crystal in a fluid flow parallel to the crystal axis. The behavior of the atomically rough surface of crystal helium is experimentally investigated in a jet of fluid in the temperature range from 1 to 1.4 K, where the emergence is observed of an instability of the type previously predicted by Kagan, as well as by Nozieres and Uwaha. Observations reveal that, below the roughening transition, the (0001) basal face is stable in a jet of fluid.     

Room-temperature polariton parametric scattering driven by a one-dimensional polariton condensate

We demonstrate a novel way to realize room-temperature polariton parametric scattering in a one-dimensional ZnO microcavity. The polariton parametric scattering is driven by a polariton condensate, with a balanced polariton pair generated at the adjacent polariton mode. This parametric scattering is experimentally investigated by the angle-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy technique under different pump powers and it is well described by the rate equation of interacting bosons. The direct relation between the intensity of the scattered polariton signal and that of the polariton reservoir is acquired under nonresonant excitation, exhibiting the explicit nonlinear characteristic of this room-temperature polariton parametric process.     

Oblique solitons generated by the flow of a polariton condensate past an obstacle

The formation of oblique solitons in a polariton condensate flowing past an obstacle is considered. Because of the finite lifetime of polaritons, the condensate flow is inhomogeneous, which leads to a significant modification of the conditions necessary for the generation of oblique solitons as compared to the conditions established earlier for the flow of an atomic condensate. In particular, it is established that oblique solitons in the polariton case can be generated by a subsonic flow of the condensate in agreement with the results of recent experiments [9]. The geometric shape and other parameters of oblique solitons are analytically calculated using a model based on the nonlinear Schr?dinger equation with damping, and the analytical results are confirmed by numerical simulations.     

Experimental test of a new mechanism of dissipation in accelerated superfluid film flow

We have measured the damping, α, and the frequency, ω, of superfluid film oscillations under quasi-isothermal conditions for a variety of geometries. Experimental values for α are found to be in quantitative agreement with the Robinson theory as applied to film flow. This suggests that the damping mechanism proposed recently by Calvani, Greulich and Maraviglia does not provide a major contribution to the dissipation we observe.     

Isothermal flow of superfluid helium in extremely long tubes

Isothermal flow of superfluid helium in tubes of more than a hundred meter length has been investigated. The experimental results for gravitational flow and for flow in a closed circuit are found to be mutually consistent, and are in excellent agreement with isothermal flow data reported in the literature for shorter capillaries. Below a superfluid transport velocity of 2 cm/s the required pressure heads are found to drop sharply to a very low level, and become zero at a critical velocity somewhat below 2 mm/s, where persistent flow can be realized. From the fact that for very small pressure heads the resulting superfluid velocity becomes independent of the length of the flow tube, it is concluded that in this region the formation of turbulence is entirely located near the entrance of the tubes, from where it penetrates the tubes over a length of a few tenths of a meter.     

Piezoelectric-induced polariton coupling in a superlattice

Propagation of electromagnetic waves in a piezoelectric superlattice is studied. Because of the piezoelectric effect, a coupling between two orthogonally polarized electromagnetic waves is induced by the superlattice vibration. As a consequence of the strong coupling, two types of polariton modes are found: one is supported in the band gap while the other prohibited. This unusual coupling effect is not present in classical lattices.     

Adiabatic Raman polariton in a Bose condensate

The Raman interaction of optical fields with a Bose condensate is studied in the adiabatic regime. A superposition of operators is found — one annihilating an atom in a metastable state and the other annihilating a photon in resonance with a transition from the ground state to an excited state — which is an adiabatic invariant of the problem (Raman polariton). Possible applications for Bose-condensate diagnostics and development of atomic lasers are proposed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 7, 473–477 (10 October 1996)     

Spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate

Exciton-polariton condensation can be regarded as a self-organization phenomenon, where phase ordering is established among particles in the system. In such condensed systems, further ordering can occur in the particle density distribution, under particular experimental conditions. In this work we report on spontaneous pattern formation in a polariton condensate under nonresonant optical pumping. The slightly elliptical ring-shaped excitation laser that we employ forces condensation to occur into a single-energy state with periodic boundary conditions, giving rise to a multilobe standing-wave patterned state.     

Drag in a resonantly driven polariton fluid

We study the linear response of a coherently driven polariton fluid in the pump-only configuration scattering against a point-like defect and evaluate analytically the drag force exerted by the fluid on the defect. When the system is excited near the bottom of the lower polariton dispersion, the sign of the interaction-renormalised pump detuning classifies the collective excitation spectra into three different categories (Ciuti and Carusotto 2005 Phys. Status Solidi b 242 2224): linear for zero, diffusive-like for positive and gapped for negative detuning. We show that both cases of zero and positive detuning share a qualitatively similar crossover of the drag force from the subsonic to the supersonic regime as a function of the fluid velocity, with a critical velocity given by the speed of sound found for the linear regime. In contrast, for gapped spectra, we find that the critical velocity exceeds the speed of sound. In all cases, the residual drag force in the subcritical regime depends on the polariton lifetime only. Also, well below the critical velocity, the drag force varies linearly with the polariton lifetime, in agreement with previous work (Cancellieri et?al 2010 Phys. Rev. B 82 224512), where the drag was determined numerically for a finite-size defect.     

Critical velocity for superfluid flow across the BEC-BCS crossover

Critical velocities have been observed in an ultracold superfluid Fermi gas throughout the BEC-BCS crossover. A pronounced peak of the critical velocity at unitarity demonstrates that superfluidity is most robust for resonant atomic interactions. Critical velocities were determined from the abrupt onset of dissipation when the velocity of a moving one-dimensional optical lattice was varied. The dependence of the critical velocity on lattice depth and on the inhomogeneous density profile was studied.     

Thermodynamic inequalities in a superfluid

General conditions for thermodynamic stability of a superfluid are studied in the full space of thermodynamic variables, including (along with the conventional thermodynamic coordinates such as pressure and temperature) superfluid motion velocity and momentum density. The stability conditions lead to the thermodynamic inequalities that replace the Landau superfluidity criterion at nonzero temperatures.     

New type of polariton in a piezoelectric superlattice

We studied the propagation of an electromagnetic (EM) wave in a piezoelectric superlattice. Because of the piezoelectric effect, a transverse polarization can be induced by a longitudinal wave which couples strongly to the EM wave in some particular frequency regions, resulting in the creation of a new type of polariton that does not exist in ionic crystals. The forbidden band associated with the polariton is not due to the Bragg reflection, but rather to the coupling.