New Journal of Physics (Jan 2016)

Vortex dynamics in superfluids governed by an interacting gauge theory

  • Salvatore Butera,
  • Manuel Valiente,
  • Patrik Öhberg

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/8/085001
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 8
p. 085001

Abstract

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We study the dynamics of a vortex in a quasi two-dimensional Bose gas consisting of light-matter coupled atoms forming two-component pseudo spins. The gas is subject to a density dependent gauge potential, hence governed by an interacting gauge theory, which stems from a collisionally induced detuning between the incident laser frequency and the atomic energy levels. This provides a back-action between the synthetic gauge potential and the matter field. A Lagrangian approach is used to derive an expression for the force acting on a vortex in such a gas. We discuss the similarities between this force and the one predicted by Iordanskii, Lifshitz and Pitaevskii when scattering between a superfluid vortex and the thermal component is taken into account.

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