Lecture XX 58

Lecture XX: Superuidity

Previously, we have seen that, when treated in a mean-eld or saddle-point approximation,
the eld theory of the weakly interacting Bose gas shows a transition to a Bose-Einstein
condensed phase when = 0 where the order parameter, the complex condensate wave-
function
0
acquires a non-zero expectation value, |
0
| =
_
L
d
/g. The spontaneous
breaking of the continuous symmetry associated with the phase of the order parameter is
accompanied by the appearance of massless collective phase uctuations. In the following,
we will explore the properties of these uctuations and their role in the phenomenon of
superuidity.
Starting with model action for the Bose system, ( = 1)
S[

, ] =
_

0
d
_
d
d
r
_

(r, )
_

2
2m

_
(r, ) +
g
2
(

(r, )(r, ))
2
_
a saddle-point analysis of the action revealed that, for > 0, the eld
acquires a constant non-zero expectation value:

0
=
0
= (L
d
/g)
1/2

S
S1
Re
0
Im
0
Re
0
Im
0
In the following, we will explore the eect of uctuations around the mean-eld
To do so, it is convenient to eect the reparameterisation (r, ) = [(r, )]
1/2
e
i(r,)
Using 1.
_

0
d

=
1
2
_

0
d

(
1/2

1/2
) =

0
= 0
..
_

0
d
1/2

1/2
+
_

0
di

2. (
1/2
e
i
) =
_
1
2
1/2
+ i
1/2

_
e
i
3.
_

0
d

2
=
_

0
d

=
_

0
_
1
4
()
2
+ ()
2
_
the action takes the form
S[, ] =
_

0
d
_
d
d
r
_
i

+
1
2m
_
1
4
()
2
+ ()
2
_
+
g
2
2
_
Lecture Notes October 2005
Lecture XX 59
Then, discarding gradient terms involving massive uctuations ,
an expansion in
0
at =
BEC
= 0
S[, ] S
0
[
0
] +
_

0
d
_
d
d
r
_
i

+
g
2
2
+

0
2m
()
2
_
First term has canonical structure momentum

(coordinate)
cf. canonically conjugate pair
Second term records energy cost of massive uctuations from
Mexican hat potential minimum
Third term measures energy cost of spatially varying massless phase ucutations:
i.e. is a Goldstone mode
Gaussian integration over :
_
D() exp
_

_

0
d
_
d
d
r
g
2
_
+
i
g

_
2
+
(

)
2
2g
..
_
i

+
g
2
2
_
_
= const. exp
_

_

0
d
_
d
d
r
(

)
2
2g
_
eective low energy action
S[] S
0
+
1
2
_

0
d
_
d
d
r
_
1
g
(

)
2
+

0
m
()
2
_
.
cf. Lagrangian formulation of harmonic medium (or massless Klein-Gordon eld)
S =
_
dt
_
d
d
r
_
m
2

1
2
k
s
a
2
()
2
_
=
_
dx

i.e. low-energy excitations involve collective phase uctuations with a spectrum

k
=
g
0
m
|k|
Physical ramifications: consider quantum mechanical current density operator

j(r, ) =
1
2
_
a

(r, )
p
m
a(r, )
_
p
m
a

(r, )
_
a(r, )
_
fun. int

i
2m
_
(

(r, ))(r, )

(r, )(r, )

0
m
(r, )
i.e. is measure of (super)current ow
Variation of action S[, ]
i

= g, i

=

0
m

2
= j
First equation: system adjusts to spatial uctuations of density
by dynamical phase uctuation
Lecture Notes October 2005
Lecture XX 60
Second equation continuity equation (conservation of mass)
Crucially, stationary equations possess steady state solution with non-vanishing
current ow: setting

= 0, obtain = 0 and j = 0
i.e. for T < T
BEC
, a conguration with a uniform
density prole can support a steady state divergenceless (super)ow
Notice that a mass term in the phase action would spoil this property,
i.e. the phenomenon of superow is intimately linked to the Goldstone mode
Steady state current ow in normal environments is prevented by the mechanism of
energy dissipation, i.e. particles scatter o imperfections inside the system and thereby
converting part of their energy into the creation of elementary excitations
How can dissipative loss of energy be avoided?
Trivially, no energy can be exchanged if there are no elementary excitations to create
In reality, this means that the excitations of the system should be
energetically inaccessible (k.e. of carriers too small to create excitations)
But this is not the case here! there is no energy gap (
k
|k|)
However, there is an ingenuous argument due to Landau (see notes) showing
that a linear excitation spectrum can stabilize dissipationless transport
Lecture Notes October 2005