Dissipative dynamics of superfluid vortices at nonzero temperatures

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Oct 5;99(14):145301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.145301. Epub 2007 Oct 5.

Abstract

We consider the evolution and dissipation of vortex rings in a condensate at nonzero temperatures in the context of the classical field approximation, based on the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The temperature in such a system is fully determined by the total number density and the number density of the condensate. The collisions with noncondensed particles reduce the radius of a vortex ring until it completely disappears. We obtain a universal decay law for a vortex line length and relate it to mutual friction coefficients in the fundamental equation of vortex motion in superfluids.