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  • Open Access

Vortex shedding patterns in holographic superfluids at finite temperature

Peng Yang*

Shanquan Lan†

Yu Tian‡

Yu-Kun Yan§

Hongbao Zhang∥

  • *Contact author: pengyang23@sjtu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: lansq@lingnan.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: ytian@ucas.ac.cn
  • §Contact author: yanyukun20@mails.ucas.ac.cn
  • ∥Contact author: hongbaozhang@bnu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 026032 – Published 29 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/lw69-gp12

Abstract

The dynamics of superfluid systems exhibit significant similarities to their classical counterparts, particularly in the phenomenon of vortex shedding triggered by a moving obstacle. In such systems, the universal behavior of shedding patterns can be classified using the classical concept of the Reynolds number Re=vσν (characteristic length scale σ, velocity v, and viscosity ν), which has been shown to generalize to quantum systems at absolute zero temperature. However, it remains unclear whether this universal behavior holds at finite temperatures, where viscosity arises from two distinct sources: thermal excitations and quantum vortex viscosity. Using a holographic model of finite-temperature superfluids, we investigate the vortex shedding patterns and identify two distinct regimes without classical counterparts: a periodic vortex dipole pattern and a vortex dipole train pattern. By calculating the shedding frequency, Reynolds number, and Strouhal number at different temperatures, we find that the relations between these quantities are qualitatively similar to empirical observations that are extracted from both classical and quantum vortex shedding systems, which implies the robustness of vortex shedding dynamics at finite-temperature superfluid systems.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 026032– Published 29 July, 2025
  • Received 1 June 2025
  • Accepted 6 July 2025
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