Transverse Quantum Superfluids

Abstract

Even when ideal solids are insulating, their states with crystallographic defects may have superfluid properties. It became clear recently that edge dislocations in 4He featuring a combination of microscopic quantum roughness and superfluidity of their cores may represent a new paradigmatic class of quasi-one-dimensional superfluids. The new state of matter, termed transverse quantum fluid (TQF), is found in a variety of physical setups. The key ingredient defining the class of TQF systems is infinite compressibility, which is responsible for all other unusual properties such as the quadratic spectrum of normal modes (or even the absence of sharp quasiparticles), irrelevance of the Landau criterion, off-diagonal long-range order at T = 0, and the exponential dependence of the phase slip probability on the inverse flow velocity. From a conceptual point of view, the TQF state is a striking demonstration of the conditional character of many dogmas associated with superfluidity, including the necessity of elementary excitations, in general, and the ones obeying Landau criterion in particular.