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Tuning the critical current in toroidal superfluids via controllable impurities

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We combine numerical and experimental approaches to study how impurities affect the maximum superflow in an annular Bose-Einstein condensate. By tuning the impurity density and radial position, we precisely control persistent-current stability: it increases with the number of impurities and when impurities are placed at larger radii. In the unstable regime, the complex vortex motion within the impurity landscape, characterized by pinning and unpinning events, governs the timescale of the current decay and its final value. Our work establishes atomic superfluids as a pristine platform for exploring universal mechanisms of superflow stabilization and decay, paving the way for atomtronic quantum technologies.
DOI: 10.1103/316q-596d
Authors: K. Xhani, G. Del Pace, N. Grani, D. Hernández-Rajkov, B. Donelli, G. Roati, L. Pezzè
Institutions: European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Politecnico di Torino, National Institute of Optics, National Research Council, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Firenze, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,675
Awards: G1648780019, Programmable Atomic Large-scale Quantum Simulation 2 - SGA1, G3022749744, The Integrated Initiative of European Laser Research Infrastructures, G3976037732, G434337789, G526456201, G5443090575, G5569119251, G5987792135, G7249932416, G777498305, G779248461, G8959349008
OpenAlex ID: W7154992689
FWCI: 2.587
Cites: 44
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10