Vortexons · Vortices with massive cores in quantum matter
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2023-01-09 → 2025-01-08
- EU contribution
- €181,153
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Vortices with massive cores in quantum matter
Quantum vortices, fundamental excitations in superfluid systems, are key to understanding superfluidity. Their presence in rotating quantum systems serves as direct evidence of superfluidity, distinguishing them from classical vortices through quantized circulation. Traditionally seen as empty-core structures, recent findings reveal that many vortices contain particles, giving them inertial mass. These massive vortices, or vortexons, exhibit distinct dynamical behaviors, opening new research directions. The Vortexons project developed a theoretical and numerical framework to study these topological excitations and their broader implications in quantum fluids. By incorporating vortex core mass, the project addressed fundamental questions in superfluid vortex dynamics, exploring its effects on vortex motion, vortex-lattice stability, and the vortex core structure in Fermi superfluids. It also investigated Mott-superfluid transitions in vortexon clusters, the possibility to realize vortex-based bosonic Josephson junctions, and the interplay between ghost and massive vortices. These findings bridge fundamental quantum physics and applied research, with potential technological applications. The project’s outcomes impact Bose-Einstein condensates, Fermi superfluids, liquid helium, superconductivity, and quantum turbulence, fostering both theoretical advancements and experimental relevance. Understanding vortex dynamics has direct implications for quantum technologies, including atomtronic circuits, high-performance superconductors, and quantum gyroscopes. The research aligns with Europe’s quantum strategy, reinforcing leadership in the Second Quantum Revolution and paving the way for breakthroughs with broad economic and societal impact.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In quantum matter, vortices are topological excitations characterized by quantized circulation of the velocity field. They can be found in contexts as diverse as superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensates, laser beams, and even in the recently detected gravitational waves emitted during the merging of two spinning black holes.Quantum vortices are often modeled as funnel-like holes around which the quantum uid exhibits a swirling ow. In this perspective, vortex cores are nothing more than empty regions where the superuid density goes to zero, and their motion is governed by first-order differential equations. In the last few years, this simple view has been challenged and it is now increasingly clear that, in many real systems, vortex cores are not that empty. In these cases, the hole in the superuid is lled by particles or excitations which dress the vortices and provide them with an effective inertial mass.This feature opens the door to exciting new scenarios where inertial effects compete with the usual inter-vortex interactions. In this way, well-established results about vortex dynamics, binding-unbinding phase transitions, and robustness of superuidity are challenged. The project “Vortexons” will provide a complete description of the physics disclosed by quantum vortices with massive cores, addressing these crucial open issues from both the theoretical and the experimental sides. The resulting theory aims to be not only the gold standard in all those phenomena where quantum matter features massive topological excitations, but also the necessary foundation for the development of new high-performance superconductors. In this perspective, our theory will thus possibly be the seed of major breakthroughs having a disruptive impact on society, economy, and environmental policies, such as higher-resolution magnetic resonance scanners, low-power microprocessors, and high-speed transportation.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA · BARCELONACoordinatorSpain
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101062887
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e518a87784&appId=PPGMS
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e5fe169857&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union