Quantized superfluid vortex dynamics on curved surfaces: cylinders and cones*
Presented by Alexander L. Fetter, Stanford University
Superfluid flow on a cylindrical surface differs significantly from that on an infinite plane not only because of the additional winding number around the cylinder but also because of the local curvature. The requirement that the condensate wave function be single valued means that a single vortex cannot be stationary; instead it acquires one of two quantized velocities around the circumference. The resulting phase pattern on an infinite cylinder illustrates the effect of the motion compared to that of a stationary vortex. The associated stream function also differs significantly from that on a plane; it has two topologically distinct types of trajectories (closed and open), analogous to the libration and rotation of a simple pendulum with increasing energy. In addition, the stream function determines the interaction energy of a vortex dipole (with opposite signs). The motion on a semi-infinite cone displays similar behavior.
*In collaboration with Nils Guenther and Pietro Massignan, PRA 96, 063608 (2017)
5:00 pm, Friday, March 2, 2018
PAIS-2540, PAIS
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