Non-Hermitian Luttinger Liquids and Vortex Physics

TL;DR

This paper models vortex filaments in superconductors as a non-Hermitian Luttinger liquid with a defect, revealing how interactions influence vortex pinning and depinning under tilted magnetic fields.

Contribution

It introduces a non-Hermitian Luttinger liquid framework for vortex physics and combines analytic and numerical methods to study defect effects.

Findings

Interactions enhance vortex pinning for g ≤ 1.

Tilted magnetic fields induce depinning effects.

Luttinger liquid behavior significantly affects vortex dynamics.

Abstract

As a model of two thermally excited flux liquids connected by a weak link, we study the effect of a single line defect on vortex filaments oriented parallel to the surface of a thin planar superconductor. When the applied field is tilted relative to the line defect, the physics is described by a nonhermitian Luttinger liquid of interacting quantum bosons in one spatial dimension with a point defect. We analyze this problem using a combination of analytic and numerical density matrix renormalization group methods, uncovering a delicate interplay between enhancement of pinning due to Luttinger liquid effects and depinning due to the tilted magnetic field. Interactions dramatically improve the ability of a single columnar pin to suppress vortex tilt when the Luttinger liquid parameter g is less than or equal to one.