- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Impurity-controlled vortex mobility and pair breaking in fermionic superfluid rings

Buğra Tüzemen1,*, Andrea Barresi2,†, Gabriel Wlazłowski2,3,‡, Piotr Magierski2,3,§, and Klejdja Xhani4,∥

  • *Contact author: btuzemen@ifpan.edu.pl
  • †Contact author: andrea.barresi.dokt@pw.edu.pl
  • ‡Contact author: gabriel.wlazlowski@pw.edu.pl
  • §Contact author: piotr.magierski@pw.edu.pl
  • ∥Contact author: klejdja.xhani@polito.it
PDF

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023204 – Published 26 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6nhm-x2p9

Abstract

Using time-dependent density functional theory, we study how density and size of impurities govern dissipation of persistent currents of fermionic superfluid rings in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer regime. The critical winding number for vortex emission increases with impurity density, but this enhancement is impurity size dependent and capped by the pair-breaking threshold. Below this vortex-emission threshold, the winding number remains constant while flow energy dissipates through impurity-enhanced pair breaking. Above the threshold, vortex-impurity interactions produce distinct mobility regimes—deflected trajectories, individual pinning, collective pinning, and intersite hopping, controlled by the impurity size and density, which determine the dominant dissipation channel. These findings provide design principles for ultracold-atom experiments and insights into vortex-pinning dynamics in neutron-star crusts and superconductors.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (47)

  1. A. J. Leggett, Can a solid be “superfluid”? Phys. Rev. Lett. 25, 1543 (1970).
  2. G. Orso and S. Stringari, Superfluid fraction and Leggett bound in a density-modulated strongly interacting Fermi gas at zero temperature, Phys. Rev. A 109, 023301 (2024).
  3. W. M. Saslow, Superfluidity of periodic solids, Phys. Rev. Lett. 36, 1151 (1976).
  4. D. E. Galli, L. Reatto, and W. M. Saslow, Bounds for the superfluid fraction from exact quantum Monte Carlo local densities, Phys. Rev. B 76, 052503 (2007).
  5. G. Biroli, B. Clark, L. Foini, and F. Zamponi, Leggett's bound for amorphous solids, Phys. Rev. B 83, 094530 (2011).
  6. D. Pérez-Cruz, G. E. Astrakharchik, and P. Massignan, Superfluid fraction of interacting bosonic gases, Phys. Rev. A 111, L011302 (2025).
  7. K. Sasaki, N. Suzuki, and H. Saito, Bénard–von Kármán vortex street in a Bose-Einstein condensate, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 150404 (2010).
  8. M. T. M. Christenhusz, A. Safavi-Naini, H. Rubinsztein-Dunlop, T. W. Neely, and M. T. Reeves, Emergent universal drag law in a model of superflow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 066001 (2025).
  9. Quantized Vortex Dynamics and Superfluid Turbulence, Lecture Notes in Physics, edited by C. F. Barenghi, R. J. Donnelly, and W. F. Vinen (Springer, New York, NY, 2006).
  10. C. Ryu, M. F. Andersen, P. Clade, V. Natarajan, K. Helmerson, and W. D. Phillips, Observation of persistent flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a toroidal trap, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 260401 (2007).
  11. Y. Cai, D. G. Allman, P. Sabharwal, and K. C. Wright, Persistent currents in rings of ultracold fermionic atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 150401 (2022).
  12. G. Pecci, P. Naldesi, L. Amico, and A. Minguzzi, Probing the BCS-BEC crossover with persistent currents, Phys. Rev. Res. 3, L032064 (2021).
  13. G. Del Pace, K. Xhani, A. M. Falconi, M. Fedrizzi, N. Grani, D. H. Rajkov, M. Inguscio, F. Scazza, W. J. Kwon, and G. Roati, Imprinting persistent currents in tunable fermionic rings, Phys. Rev. X 12, 041037 (2022).
  14. J. Polo, W. J. Chetcuti, T. Haug, A. Minguzzi, K. Wright, and L. Amico, Persistent currents in ultracold gases, Phys. Rep. 1137, 1 (2025).
  15. A. Ramanathan, K. C. Wright, S. R. Muniz, M. Zelan, W. T. Hill, C. J. Lobb, K. Helmerson, W. D. Phillips, and G. K. Campbell, Superflow in a toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate: An atom circuit with a tunable weak link, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 130401 (2011).
  16. R. A. Williams, S. Al-Assam, and C. J. Foot, Observation of vortex nucleation in a rotating two-dimensional lattice of Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 050404 (2010).
  17. L. Pezzè, K. Xhani, C. Daix, N. Grani, B. Donelli, F. Scazza, D. Hernandez-Rajkov, W. J. Kwon, G. Del Pace, and G. Roati, Stabilizing persistent currents in an atomtronic Josephson junction necklace, Nat. Commun. 15, 4831 (2024).
  18. K. Xhani et al., Tuning the critical current in toroidal superfluids via controllable impurities, arXiv:2511.10493.
  19. K. Xhani, A. Barresi, M. Tylutki, G. Wlazłowski, and P. Magierski, Stability of persistent currents in superfluid fermionic rings, Phys. Rev. Res. 7, 013225 (2025).
  20. L. Pisani, V. Piselli, and G. C. Strinati, Critical current throughout the BCS-BEC crossover with the inclusion of pairing fluctuations, Phys. Rev. A 109, 033306 (2024).
  21. M. N. Kunchur, Evaluating superconductors through current induced depairing, Condens. Matter 4, 54 (2019).
  22. J. L. MacManus-Driscoll, S. R. Foltyn, Q. X. Jia, H. Wang, A. Serquis, L. Civale, B. Maiorov, M. E. Hawley, M. P. Maley, and D. E. Peterson, Strongly enhanced current densities in superconducting coated conductors of YBa2Cu3O7−x+BaZrO3, Nat. Mater. 3, 439 (2004).
  23. M. Miura et al., Thermodynamic approach for enhancing superconducting critical current performance, NPG Asia Mater. 14, 85 (2022).
  24. M. Miura et al., Quadrupling the depairing current density in the iron-based superconductor SmFeAsO1−xHx, Nat. Mater. 23, 1370–1378 (2024).
  25. A. Bulgac, Local-density-functional theory for superfluid fermionic systems: The unitary gas, Phys. Rev. A 76, 040502 (2007).
  26. A. Bulgac and M. M. Forbes, Unitary Fermi supersolid: The Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 215301 (2008).
  27. A. Bulgac, M. M. Forbes, and P. Magierski, The unitary Fermi gas: From Monte Carlo to density functionals, in The BCS-BEC Crossover and the Unitary Fermi Gas, Lecture Notes in Physics, edited by W. Zwerger (Springer, Berlin, 2012), pp. 305–373.
  28. A. Boulet, G. Wlazłowski, and P. Magierski, Local energy density functional for superfluid Fermi gases from effective field theory, Phys. Rev. A 106, 013306 (2022).
  29. G. Wlazłowski, K. Xhani, M. Tylutki, N. P. Proukakis, and P. Magierski, Dissipation mechanisms in fermionic Josephson junction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 023003 (2023).
  30. A. Barresi, A. Boulet, P. Magierski, and G. Wlazłowski, Dissipative dynamics of quantum vortices in fermionic superfluid, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 043001 (2023).
  31. A. Bulgac, Y.-L. Luo, P. Magierski, K. J. Roche, and Y. Yu, Real-time dynamics of quantized vortices in a unitary Fermi superfluid, Science 332, 1288 (2011).
  32. G. Wlazłowski, K. Sekizawa, M. Marchwiany, and P. Magierski, Suppressed solitonic cascade in spin-imbalanced superfluid Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 253002 (2018).
  33. A. Bulgac and S. Yoon, Large amplitude dynamics of the pairing correlations in a unitary Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 085302 (2009).
  34. A. Bulgac, M. M. Forbes, and A. Schwenk, Induced p-wave superfluidity in asymmetric Fermi gases, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 020402 (2006).
  35. J. Kopyciński, W. R. Pudelko, and G. Wlazłowski, Vortex lattice in spin-imbalanced unitary Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. A 104, 053322 (2021).
  36. G. Wlazłowski, A. Bulgac, M. M. Forbes, and K. J. Roche, Life cycle of superfluid vortices and quantum turbulence in the unitary Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. A 91, 031602 (2015).
  37. K. Hossain, K. Kobuszewski, M. M. Forbes, P. Magierski, K. Sekizawa, and G. Wlazłowski, Rotating quantum turbulence in the unitary Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. A 105, 013304 (2022).
  38. A. Bulgac and Y. Yu, Renormalization of the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations in the case of a zero range pairing interaction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 042504 (2002).
  39. G. Wlazłowski, P. Magierski, M. M. Forbes, and A. Bulgac, W-SLDA Toolkit: A simulation platform for ultracold Fermi gases, arXiv:2602.08982.
  40. K. Xhani, G. Del Pace, F. Scazza, and G. Roati, Decay of persistent currents in annular atomic superfluids, Atoms 11, 109 (2023).
  41. J. Carlson, S. Gandolfi, and A. Gezerlis, Quantum Monte Carlo approaches to nuclear and atomic physics, Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2012, 01A209 (2012).
  42. J. W. Negele and D. Vautherin, Neutron star matter at sub-nuclear densities, Nucl. Phys. A 207, 298 (1973).
  43. N. Chamel, Neutron conduction in the inner crust of a neutron star in the framework of the band theory of solids, Phys. Rev. C 85, 035801 (2012).
  44. N. Chamel and P. Haensel, Physics of neutron star crusts, Living Rev. Relativ. 11, 10 (2008).
  45. B. Haskell and A. Melatos, Models of pulsar glitches, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 24, 1530008 (2015).
  46. D. Antonopoulou, B. Haskell, and C. M. Espinoza, Pulsar glitches: Observations and physical interpretation, Rep. Prog. Phys. 85, 126901 (2022).
  47. B. Tüzemen, A. Barresi, G. Wlazłowski, P. Magierski, and K. Xhani, Impurity-controlled vortex mobility and pair-breaking in fermionic superfluid rings: Reproducibility packs, Zenodo (2025), https://zenodo.org/records/17412051.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023204– Published 26 May, 2026
  • Received 29 October 2025
  • Revised 5 March 2026
  • Accepted 25 April 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation