Motion of a superfluid vortex according to holographic quantum dissipation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of superfluid vortices using holographic duality, revealing temperature-dependent inertial mass, shear drag behavior, and vortex core deformation under different driving conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic approach to study quantum dissipation in superfluid vortices, uncovering novel temperature and drive-dependent vortex behaviors.

Findings

Large inertial mass at low temperature diminishes with increasing temperature

Drag force increases as temperature decreases under weak drive

Vortex core deformation and increased drag occur under strong drive

Abstract

Vortices are topological defects associated with superfluids and superconductors, which, when mobile, dissipate energy destroying the dissipation-less nature of the superfluid. The nature of this "quantum dissipation" is rooted in the quantum physical nature of the problem, which has been subject of an extensive literature. However, this has mostly be focused on the measures applicable in weakly interacting systems wherein they are tractable via conventional methods. Recently it became possible to address such dynamical quantum thermalization problems in very strongly interacting systems using the holographic duality discovered in string theory, mapping the quantum problem on a gravitational problem in one higher dimension, having as benefit offering a more general view on how dissipation emerges from such intricate quantum physical circumstances. We study here the elementary problem of a single vortex in two space dimensions, set in motion by a sudden quench in the background superflow formed in a finite density "Reissner-Nordstrom" holographic superconductor. This reveals a number of surprising outcomes addressing questions of principle. By fitting the trajectories unambiguously to the Hall-Vinen-Iordanskii phenomenological equation of motion we find that these are characterized by a large inertial mass at low temperature that however diminishes upon raising temperature. For a weak drive the drag is found to increase when temperature is lowered which reveals a simple shear drag associated with the viscous metallic vortex cores, supplemented by a conventional normal fluid component at higher temperatures. For a strong drive we discover a novel dynamical phenomenon: the core of the vortex deforms accompanied by a large increase of the drag force.