Superfluid motion and drag-force cancellation in a fluid of light

Claire Michel (), Omar Boughdad, Mathias Albert, Pierre-Élie Larré and Matthieu Bellec ()
Additional contact information
Claire Michel: Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS
Omar Boughdad: Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS
Mathias Albert: Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS
Pierre-Élie Larré: Université de Cergy-Pontoise, CNRS
Matthieu Bellec: Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Quantum fluids of light merge many-body physics and nonlinear optics, revealing quantum hydrodynamic features of light when it propagates in nonlinear media. One of the most outstanding evidence of light behaving as an interacting fluid is its ability to carry itself as a superfluid. Here, we report a direct experimental detection of the transition to superfluidity in the flow of a fluid of light past an obstacle in a bulk nonlinear crystal. In this cavityless all-optical system, we extract a direct optical analog of the drag force exerted by the fluid of light and measure the associated displacement of the obstacle. Both quantities drop to zero in the superfluid regime characterized by a suppression of long-range radiation from the obstacle. The experimental capability to shape both the flow and the potential landscape paves the way for simulation of quantum transport in complex systems.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04534-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04534-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04534-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().