Superflow of resonantly driven polaritons against a defect

Journal Article · Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.82.224512· OSTI ID:21502908

Cancellieri, E; Marchetti, F M; Tejedor, C ^[1]; Szymanska, M H ^[2]

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1. Departamento de Fisica Teorica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049 (Spain)
2. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry (United Kingdom)

In the linear-response approximation, coherently driven microcavity polaritons in the pump-only configuration are expected to satisfy the Landau criterion for superfluidity at either strong enough pump powers or small flow velocities. Here, we solve nonperturbatively the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing the resonantly driven polariton system. We show that, even in the limit of asymptotically large densities, where in linear-response approximation the system satisfies the Landau criterion, the fluid always experiences a residual drag force when flowing through the defect. We explain the result in terms of the polariton lifetime being finite, finding that the equilibrium limit of zero drag can only be recovered in the case of perfect microcavities. In general, both the drag force exerted by the defect on the fluid, as well as the height of Cherenkov radiation, and the percentage of particles scattered by the defect, show a smooth crossover rather than a sharp thresholdlike behavior typical of superfluids which obey the Landau criterion.

• OSTI ID: 21502908
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 22; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.82.224512; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
APPROXIMATIONS
CHERENKOV RADIATION
CONFIGURATION
DEFECTS
DENSITY
EQUATIONS
EQUILIBRIUM
FLUIDS
LIFETIME
PERTURBATION THEORY
POLARONS
SIMULATION
SUPERFLUIDITY
TIME DEPENDENCE
VELOCITY
CALCULATION METHODS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUASI PARTICLES
RADIATIONS