Superfluidity of Total Angular Momentum

TL;DR

This paper extends the concept of superfluidity to systems with total angular momentum, demonstrating how spin injection affects superfluid behavior and revealing unique spin-transport phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized superfluidity framework for systems with U(1) symmetries acting on matter and spatial coordinates, focusing on total angular momentum.

Findings

Superfluidity of total angular momentum can be realized in ferromagnetic systems with spin-orbit coupling.

Steady spin injection induces spacetime oscillations and destabilizes the superfluid, causing dissipation.

Weak dissipation allows the persistence of unique spin-transport features despite instability.

Abstract

Spontaneous symmetry breaking of a U(1) symmetry in interacting systems leads to superfluidity of a corresponding conserved charge. We generalize the superfluidity to systems with U(1) symmetries acting on both matter fields and 2D spatial coordinates. Such systems can be effectively realized in easy-plane ferromagnetic systems with spin-orbit coupling where the conserved charge is a total angular momentum. We clarify that under a steady injection of spin angular momentum, the superfluid of the total angular momentum shows spacetime oscillations of the spin density and geometry-dependent spin hydrodynamics. We also demonstrate that the steady spin injection destabilizes the superfluid of total angular momentum, causing a dissipation effect in its spin hydrodynamic properties. Although a stability analysis shows that the superfluid under the spin injection is nonideal, the unique spin-transport features persist with weak dissipation of the spin angular momentum. Our study broadens the comprehension of superfluidity and sheds new light on the interplay between symmetries and phases of matter.