Vortex-antivortex pair dynamics in an exciton-polariton condensate

TL;DR

This paper investigates vortex-antivortex pair dynamics in exciton-polariton condensates, revealing how dissipative forces and trapping potentials influence vortex stability and lifetime in two-dimensional superfluid phases.

Contribution

It provides new insights into vortex pair stability mechanisms and demonstrates how trapping potentials extend vortex pair lifetimes in dissipative polariton condensates.

Findings

Vortex pair stability results from a balance between dissipative velocities and thermal polariton interactions.

Adding a trapping potential significantly increases the lifetime of vortex pairs.

Vortex dynamics are crucial for understanding superfluid phases in polariton systems.

Abstract

The study of superfluid and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phases in exciton-polaritons requires an understanding of vortex dynamics in a dissipative unconfined condensate. In this article we study the motion of dynamic vortex-antivortex pairs and show that vortex pair stability defined as ordered motion as opposed to rapid separation or recombination is the result of balance between dissipative velocities in the condensate and interaction with thermal polaritons. The addition of a trapping potential is further shown to considerably enhance the lifetime of a single vortex pair in this system. These investigations have important consequences for interpretation of recent results and future investigations of two-dimensional superfluid phases in polariton condensates.