Critical velocity for superfluidity in reduced dimensions
Juliette Huynh
Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Nice (INPHYNI), France
Quantum fluids, such as Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluids of light, offer fascinating platforms for exploring fundamental physical phenomena under extreme conditions. A crucial aspect of these systems is their behavior when encountering perturbations, which can lead to transitions between different transport regimes at well-defined critical velocities. The objective of our study is to examine a generic quantum fluid flowing at a given velocity past an obstacle with arbitrary parameters. We developed models that incorporate various nonlinear interaction potential, enabling us to address various systems such as cold atoms and quantum fluids of light, and to extend beyond the well-established results in the field.
We performed in-depth analytical and numerical studies of the critical velocity for superfluidity in the one- and two-dimensional mean-field regime, revealing a nontrivial dependence on the system’s parameters. The combined analysis of our model and simulations revealed how the breakdown of superfluidity occurs depending on the dimensionality of the problem.
In qualitative agreement with recent experimental results obtained for other types of obstacles, our simplified model marks a step forward in the study of superfluidity, with potential implications for other experimental platforms beyond cold atoms.
