Critical Velocity of a Mobile Impurity in One-Dimensional Quantum Liquids

M. Schecter, A. Kamenev, D. M. Gangardt, and A. Lamacraft
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 207001 – Published 14 May 2012
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Abstract

We study the notion of superfluid critical velocity in one spatial dimension. It is shown that, for heavy impurities with mass M exceeding a critical mass Mc, the dispersion develops periodic metastable branches resulting in dramatic changes of dynamics in the presence of an external driving force. In contrast to smooth Bloch oscillations for M<Mc, a heavy impurity climbs metastable branches until it reaches a branch termination point or undergoes a random tunneling event, both leading to an abrupt change in velocity and an energy loss. This is predicted to lead to a nonanalytic dependence of the impurity drift velocity on small forces.

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  • Received 1 November 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.207001

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Schecter1, A. Kamenev1,2, D. M. Gangardt3, and A. Lamacraft4

  • 1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
  • 2William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
  • 3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
  • 4Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4714, USA

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Vol. 108, Iss. 20 — 18 May 2012

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