Observation of Half-Quantum Vortices in Topological Superfluid 3He

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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

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en

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6

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Physical Review Letters, Volume 117, issue 25, pp. 1-6

Abstract

One of the most sought-after objects in topological quantum-matter systems is a vortex carrying half a quantum of circulation. They were originally predicted to exist in superfluid He3−A but have never been resolved there. Here we report an observation of half-quantum vortices (HQVs) in the polar phase of superfluid He3. The vortices are created with rotation or by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and identified based on their nuclear magnetic resonance signature. This discovery provides a pathway for studies of unpaired Majorana modes bound to the HQV cores in the polar-distorted A phase.

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Autti, S, Dmitriev, V V, Mäkinen, J T, Soldatov, A A, Volovik, G E, Yudin, A N, Zavjalov, V V & Eltsov, V B 2016, 'Observation of Half-Quantum Vortices in Topological Superfluid 3He', Physical Review Letters, vol. 117, no. 25, 255301, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.255301