Persistent supercurrents in a planar non-relativistic chiral fluid

TL;DR

This paper investigates the conditions under which persistent supercurrents can exist in a two-dimensional charged fluid on a cylinder, revealing they depend on the type of gauge field, with maximal currents in a Chern-Simons case.

Contribution

It demonstrates that persistent supercurrents in a non-relativistic chiral fluid are possible only with Chern-Simons gauge fields, highlighting the role of gauge field type in supercurrent stability.

Findings

Supercurrents are zero with Maxwell gauge fields.

Supercurrents are maximal with Chern-Simons gauge fields.

Intermediate behavior occurs with combined Maxwell and Chern-Simons terms.

Abstract

We study the possible stationary persistent supercurrents flowing on a cylindrical sample supporting a two-dimensional charged fluid. The internal dynamics of the fluid is obtained by means of an effective theory in which the fluid self-interacts through a $U(1)$ gauge field. We find that the presence of persistent supercurrents depends on what kind of gauge field it is. In particular the current is zero if it is a Maxwell gauge field, and it is maximal if it is a Chern-Simons gauge field. There is an intermediate behaviour in presence of both Maxwell and Chern-Simons term. Therefore it appears that persistent supercurrents are possible only if the fluid is chiral.