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DOE OSTI · 1799973

Gravitational vortex mass in a superfluid

Simula, Tapio
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Abstract

Here, we consider superfluid hydrodynamics of two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. Interpreting the curvature of the macroscopic condensate wave function as an effective gravity in such a superfluid universe, we argue for a superfluid equivalence principle: that the gravitational mass of a quantized vortex should be equal to the inertial vortex mass. In this model, gravity and electromagnetism have the same origin and are emergent properties of the superfluid universe, which itself emerges from the underlying collective structure of more elementary particles, such as atoms. The Bose-Einstein condensate is identified as the elusive dark matter of the superfluid universe with vortices and phonons, respectively, corresponding to massive charged particles and massless photons. Implications of this cosmological picture of superfluids to the physics of dense vortex matter are considered.

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Simula, Tapio. 2020-06-11. Gravitational vortex mass in a superfluid. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.101.063616

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