Interactions and scattering of quantum vortices in a polariton fluid

Lorenzo Dominici (), Ricardo Carretero-González, Antonio Gianfrate, Jesús Cuevas-Maraver, Augusto S. Rodrigues, Dimitri J. Frantzeskakis, Giovanni Lerario, Dario Ballarini, Milena Giorgi, Giuseppe Gigli, Panayotis G. Kevrekidis and Daniele Sanvitto
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Lorenzo Dominici: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Ricardo Carretero-González: San Diego State University
Antonio Gianfrate: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Jesús Cuevas-Maraver: Universidad de Sevilla
Augusto S. Rodrigues: Universidade do Porto
Dimitri J. Frantzeskakis: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Giovanni Lerario: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Dario Ballarini: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Milena Giorgi: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Giuseppe Gigli: Istituto di Nanotecnologia
Panayotis G. Kevrekidis: University of Massachusetts
Daniele Sanvitto: Istituto di Nanotecnologia

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Quantum vortices, the quantized version of classical vortices, play a prominent role in superfluid and superconductor phase transitions. However, their exploration at a particle level in open quantum systems has gained considerable attention only recently. Here we study vortex pair interactions in a resonant polariton fluid created in a solid-state microcavity. By tracking the vortices on picosecond time scales, we reveal the role of nonlinearity, as well as of density and phase gradients, in driving their rotational dynamics. Such effects are also responsible for the split of composite spin–vortex molecules into elementary half-vortices, when seeding opposite vorticity between the two spinorial components. Remarkably, we also observe that vortices placed in close proximity experience a pull–push scenario leading to unusual scattering-like events that can be described by a tunable effective potential. Understanding vortex interactions can be useful in quantum hydrodynamics and in the development of vortex-based lattices, gyroscopes, and logic devices.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03736-5

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