Impurity-controlled vortex mobility and pair-breaking in fermionic superfluid rings

Abstract

Using time-dependent density functional theory, we study how density and size of impurities govern dissipation of persistent currents of fermionic superfluid rings in the BCS regime. The critical winding number for vortex emission increases with impurity density, but this enhancement is impurity size-dependent and capped by the pair-breaking threshold. Below this vortex-emission threshold, the winding number remains constant while flow energy dissipates through impurity-enhanced pair-breaking. Above the threshold, vortex-impurity interactions produce distinct mobility regimes-deflected trajectories, individual pinning, collective pinning, and inter-site hopping, controlled by the impurity size and density, which determine the dominant dissipation channel. These findings provide design principles for ultracold-atom experiments and insights into vortex-pinning dynamics in neutron-star crusts and superconductors.