The stability of nonequilibrium polariton superflow in the presence of a cylindrical defect

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of nonequilibrium polariton superflows interacting with a cylindrical defect, revealing how pump intensity influences superfluid stability and critical velocities.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of how dissipation and pump power affect the stability and critical speeds of polariton superflows with a cylindrical defect.

Findings

Dissipation stabilizes superflow at low pump intensities.

High pump intensities induce instabilities lowering critical superfluid speed.

At very high pump powers, stable superflows become impossible.

Abstract

We make a theoretical study of the stability of nonequilibrium polariton superflows that interact with a cylindrical defect. The nonresonantly pumped polariton condensate is modelled with a generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation. At low pump intensities the dissipation is found stabilize the superflow. At large pump intensities, we find an instability that sets a lower critical speed for superfluidity. For even larger pump power, the lower and upper critical speed meet and stable superflows are no longer possible.