Relativistic kinetics of phonon gas in superfluids

The relativistic kinetic theory of the phonon gas in superfluids is developed. The technique of the derivation of macroscopic balance equations from microscopic equations of motion for individual particles is applied to an ensemble of quasi-particles. The necessary expressions are constructed in terms of a Hamilton function of a (quasi-)particle. A phonon contribution into superfluid dynamic parameters is obtained from energy-momentum balance equations for the phonon gas together with the conservation law for superfluids as a whole. Relations between dynamic flows being in agreement with results of relativistic hydrodynamic consideration are found. Based on the kinetic approach a problem of relativistic variation of the speed of sound under phonon influence at low temperature is solved.     

Population imbalance as a vortex catalyst in Fermi superfluids

Pairing leads to superfluidity in ultracold atomic gases, but this pairing can be frustrated when a population imbalance is present between the pairing partners. Here we investigate how vortices in the fermionic superfluid are affected by imbalance. We show that the vortex core radius is increased by imbalance, accommodating excess component atoms. This has two intriguing consequences. Firstly, a small imbalance acts as a catalyst for vortex formation, decreasing the critical rotation frequency. Secondly, imbalanced gases near critical imbalance can exhibit rotationally induced superfluidity.     

Monopole, half-quantum vortex, and nexus in chiral superfluids and superconductors

Two exotic objects are still not identified experimentally in chiral superfluids and superconductors. These are the half-quantum vortex, which plays the part of the Alice string in relativistic theories [A. S. Schwarz, Nucl. Phys. B 208, 141 (1982)], and the hedgehog in the Î field, which is the counterpart of the Dirac magnetic monopole. These two objects of different dimensionality are topologically connected. They form a combined object which is called a nexus [John M. Cornwall, hep-th/9911125; Phys. Rev. D 59, 125015 (1999); Phys. Rev. D 58, 105028 (1998)] or center monopole [N. N. Chernodub, M. I. Polikarpov, A. I. Veselov and M. A. Zubkov, Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 73, 575 (1999)] in relativistic theories. Such a combination will permit the observation of half-quantum vortices and monopoles in several realistic geometries.     

Sphalerons,antisphalerons and vortex rings

We present new classical solutions of Weinberg–Salam theory in the limit of vanishing weak mixing angle. In these static axially symmetric solutions, the Higgs field vanishes either on isolated points on the symmetry axis, or on rings centered around the symmetry axis. The solutions represent systems of sphalerons, antisphalerons, and vortex rings.     

Reconnection of colliding vortex rings

We investigate numerically the Navier-Stokes dynamics of reconnecting vortex rings at small Reynolds number for a variety of configurations. We find that reconnections are dissipative due to the smoothing of vorticity gradients at reconnection kinks and to the formation of secondary structures of stretched antiparallel vorticity which transfer kinetic energy to small scales where it is subsequently dissipated efficiently. In addition, the relaxation of the reconnection kinks excites Kelvin waves which due to strong damping are of low wave number and affect directly only large scale properties of the flow.     

Structure of the surface vortex sheet between two rotating 3He superfluids

We study a two-phase sample of superfluid 3He where vorticity exists in one phase (3He-A) but cannot penetrate across the interfacial boundary to a second coherent phase (3He-B). We calculate the bending of the vorticity into a surface vortex sheet on the interface and solve the internal structure of this new type of vortex sheet. The compression of the vorticity from three to two dimensions enforces a structure which is made up of 1 / 2-quantum units, independently of the structure of the source vorticity in the bulk. These results are consistent with our NMR measurements.     

Exotic statistics of leapfrogging vortex rings

The leapfrogging motion of vortex rings is a three-dimensional version of the motion that in two dimensions leads to exotic exchange statistics. The statistical phase factor can be computed using the hydrodynamical Euler equation, which suggests that three-dimensional exotic exchange statistics is a common property of vortex rings in a variety of quantum liquids and gases. Potential applications range from helium superfluids to Bose-Einstein condensed alkali gases, metallic hydrogen in its liquid phases, and maybe even nuclear matter in extreme conditions.     

Electron-hole duality and vortex rings in quantum dots

In a quantum-mechanical system, particle-hole duality implies that instead of studying particles, we can get equivalent information by studying the missing particles, the so-called holes. Using this duality picture for fermions in a rotating trap the vortices appear as holes in the Fermi sea. Here we predict that the formation of vortices in quantum dots at high magnetic fields causes oscillations in the energy spectrum which can be experimentally observed using accurate tunneling spectroscopy. We use the duality picture to show that these oscillations are caused by the localization of vortices in rings.     

Relativistic electron vortex beams: angular momentum and spin-orbit interaction

Motivated by the recent discovery of electron vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (AM), we construct exact Bessel-beam solutions of the Dirac equation. They describe relativistic and nonparaxial corrections to the scalar electron beams. We describe the spin and orbital AM of the electron with Berry-phase corrections and predict the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in free space. This can be observed as a spin-dependent probability distribution of the focused electron vortex beams. Moreover, the magnetic moment is calculated, which shows different g factors for spin and orbital AM and also contains the Berry-phase correction.     

Relativistic vortex dynamics in axisymmetric stationary perfect fluid configuration

Relativistic formulation of Helmholtz’s vorticity transport equation is presented on the basis of Maxwell-like version of Euler’s equation of motion. Entangled characteristics associated with vorticity flux conservation in a vortex tube and in a stream tube are displayed on basis of Greenberg’s theory of spacelike congruence of vortex lines and \(1+1+(2)\) decomposition of the gradient of fluid’s 4-velocity. Vorticity flux surfaces are surfaces of revolution about the rotation axis and are rotating with fluid’s angular velocity due to gravitational isorotation in a stationary axisymmetric perfect fluid configuration. Fluid’s angular velocity, angular momentum per baryon, injection energy, and invariant rotational potential are constant on such vorticity flux surfaces. Gravitation causes distortion of coaxial cylindrical vorticity flux surfaces in the limit of post-Newtonian approximation. The rotation of the fluid with angular velocity relative to vorticity flux surfaces generates swirl which causes the stretching of material vortex lines being wrapped on vorticity flux surfaces. Fluid helicity which is conserved in the fluid’s rest frame does not remain conserved in a locally nonrotating frame because of the existence of swirl. Vortex lines are twist free in the absence of meridional circulations, but the twisting of spacetime due to dragging effect leads to the increase in vorticity flux in a vortex tube.     

Creating vortex rings and three-dimensional skyrmions in Bose-Eeinstein condensates

We propose a method of generating a vortex ring in a Bose-Einstein condensate by means of electromagnetically induced atomic transitions. Some remnant population of atoms in a second internal state remains within the toroidal trap formed by the mean-field repulsion of the vortex ring. This population can be removed, or it can be made to flow around the torus (i.e., within the vortex ring). If this flow has a unit topological winding number, the entire structure formed by the two condensates is an example of a three-dimensional Skyrmion texture.     

Propagation of orifice- and nozzle-generated vortex rings in air

The effect of the exit geometry of a vortex ring generator was studied experimentally. Two types of exit geometries were chosen: an orifice and a nozzle. Vortex rings were generated by pushing a solenoid-valve-controlled, pressurized-air jet through the circular opening of the orifice or nozzle. Experiments were performed over a wide range of initial Reynolds number (450≤Re≤4580) and length-to-diameter ratio (0.7≤L/D≤7.0) of the air jet. The exit geometry was found to significantly influence the entire course of propagation of the vortex ring. The orifice-generated vortex ring had superior characteristics to that produced by the nozzle under the same conditions. The vorticity generated along the wall in the orifice exit plane had a negligible effect on the circulation of the vortex ring within the specified range of Reynolds number. Compared to the nozzle-generated vortex ring, the orifice-generated ring showed reduced initial vorticity losses and less diffusive entrainment of ambient fluid. The vortex rings produced by the orifice attained more circulation, less entrainment of ambient fluid and hence rapidly propagated through longer distances in comparison to the nozzle-generated rings.     

Collisions of solitons and vortex rings in cylindrical Bose-Einstein condensates

Interactions of solitary waves in a cylindrically confined Bose-Einstein condensate are investigated by simulating their head-on collisions. Slow vortex rings and fast solitons are found to collide elastically contrary to the situation in the three-dimensional homogeneous Bose gas. Strongly inelastic collisions are absent for low density condensates but occur at higher densities for intermediate velocities. The scattering behavior is rationalized by use of dispersion diagrams. During inelastic collisions, spherical shell-like structures of low density are formed and they eventually decay into depletion droplets with solitary-wave features. The relation to similar shells observed in a recent experiment by Ginsberg et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 040403 (2005)] is discussed.     

Relative equilibrium and collapse configurations of heterogeneous vortex triple rings

Configurations of point vortices in a 2D fluid that are placed at the vertices of concentric regular m-gons, i.e. point vortex rings, are considered. The number of configurations that rotate uniformly-relative equilibria-is shown to be finite in the case of three rings with arbitrary circulations, subject to a few circulation constraints. Similar finiteness results for collapse configurations of three rings are also obtained, and an effective computational method is described.