Optomechanical signature of a frictionless flow of superfluid light

Year: 2015

Authors: Larre PE., Carusotto I.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Trento, INO CNR BEC Ctr, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Trento, Dipartimento Fis, I-38123 Povo, Italy.

Abstract: We propose an experimental setup that should make it possible to reveal the frictionless flow of a superfluid of light from the suppression of the drag force that it exerts on a material obstacle. In the paraxial-propagation geometry considered here, the photon-fluid dynamics is described by a wave equation analogous to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation of dilute Bose-Einstein condensates and the obstacle consists in a solid dielectric slab immersed into a nonlinear optical liquid. By means of an ab initio calculation of the electromagnetic force experienced by the obstacle, we anticipate that superfluidity is detectable in state-of-the-art experiments from the disappearance of the optomechanical deformation of the obstacle.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 91 (5)      Pages from: 53809-1  to: 53809-10

More Information: We are grateful to Giuseppe C. La Rocca for his valuable input on the radiative forces and acknowledge Daniele Faccio and Fernando R. Manzano for stimulating discussions on experimental issues. This work was supported by the ERC through the QGBE grant and by the Autonomous Province of Trento, partly through the project On Silicon Chip Quantum Optics for Quantum Computing and Secure Communications (SiQuro).
KeyWords: Bogoliubov Dispersion-relation; Critical Velocity; Liquid-helium; Condensation; Obstacle
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.91.053809

ImpactFactor: 2.765
Citations: 19
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