Are vortices in rotating superfluids breaking the Weak Equivalence Principle?

TL;DR

This paper explores whether vortices in rotating superfluid helium violate the weak equivalence principle, considering their anomalously high inertial mass and potential implications for gravity and variable light speed in the superfluid.

Contribution

It proposes a theoretical framework and experimental approach to test if superfluid vortices violate the weak equivalence principle due to their unique inertial and gravitational mass properties.

Findings

Vortices exhibit diverging inertial mass with size.

Potential violation of the weak equivalence principle is discussed.

Experimental tests are proposed to observe vortex fall behavior.

Abstract

Due to the breaking of gauge symmetry in rotating superfluid Helium, the inertial mass of a vortex diverges with the vortex size. The vortex inertial mass is thus much higher than the classical inertial mass of the vortex core. An equal increase of the vortex gravitational mass is questioned. The possibility that the vortices in a rotating superfluid could break the weak equivalence principle in relation with a variable speed of light in the superfluid vacuum is debated. Experiments to test this possibility are investigated on the bases that superfluid Helium vortices would not fall, under the single influence of a uniform gravitational field, at the same rate as the rest of the superfluid Helium mass.