Work

Impurity-controlled vortex mobility and pair breaking in fermionic superfluid rings

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Using time-dependent density functional theory, we study how density and size of impurities govern dissipation of persistent currents of fermionic superfluid rings in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer regime. The critical winding number for vortex emission increases with impurity density, but this enhancement is impurity size dependent and capped by the pair-breaking threshold. Below this vortex-emission threshold, the winding number remains constant while flow energy dissipates through impurity-enhanced pair breaking. Above the threshold, vortex-impurity interactions produce distinct mobility regimes—deflected trajectories, individual pinning, collective pinning, and intersite hopping, controlled by the impurity size and density, which determine the dominant dissipation channel. These findings provide design principles for ultracold-atom experiments and insights into vortex-pinning dynamics in neutron-star crusts and superconductors.

Source: Physical Review Research

DOI: 10.1103/6nhm-x2p9

Authors: Buğra Tüzemen, Andrea Barresi, Gabriel Wlazłowski, Piotr Magierski, Klejdja Xhani

Institutions: Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Washington, Politecnico di Torino

Language: English

Topic: Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,625