arXiv · cond-mat/9907501
Thermal vortex dynamics in a two-dimensional condensate
Abstract
We carry out an analytical and numerical study of the motion of an isolated vortex in thermal equilibrium, the vortex being defined as the point singularity of a complex scalar field $ψ(\r,t)$ obeying a nonlinear stochastic Schrödinger equation. Because hydrodynamic fluctuations are included in this description, the dynamical picture of the vortex emerges as that of both a massive particle in contact with a heat bath, and as a passive scalar advected to a background random flow. We show that the vortex does not execute a simple random walk and that the probability distribution of vortex flights has non-Gaussian (exponential) tails.
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R. Sasik, Luis M. A. Bettencourt, Salman Habib. 2000-04-12. Thermal vortex dynamics in a two-dimensional condensate. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.62.1238
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