arXiv subjects

Riku Rantanen

Publications and source records attributed to Riku Rantanen.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Surface-induced vortex core restructuring in a spin-triplet superfluid

Observing the structure of quantized vortices can provide evidence for the pairing nature of a superfluid or superconductor and pinpoint its order parameter. Spin-triplet superfluid $^3$He supports a variety of vortices, calculated and identified so far in bulk fluid. We show numerically that the vortex core in $^3$He is strongly altered near a surface, resulting in a structure inhomogeneous along the vortex line. The effect is asymmetric with respect to the relative orientation of the core order parameter anisotropy axis and the surface normal. In a wide range of external conditions, the vortex structure at the surface is found to be completely different from that in bulk. The effect originates from the combination of spin-orbit interaction in triplet pairing with the symmetry breaking by the surface. As an implication, surface-limited vortex core observations in a triplet-candidate system may not reflect the bulk structure. We propose an experimental verification of the effect by measuring a transition in the vortex structure in thin slabs of superfluid $^3$He-B.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Triple-core structure of the double-core vortex in superfluid $^3$He-B

The order parameter of superfluid $^3$He involves nine complex components, and the multicomponent structure allows quantized vortices in superfluid $^3$He to have complicated cores. One of the vortices found in the B phase is the double-core vortex, which has been often described as a pair of two half-quantum vortices (HQVs) connected by a domain wall. Our numerical calculations of the core structure suggest an alternative representation of the vortex as a combination of three vortices, one in each component of the spin-triplet superfluid. Based on the results we present a qualitative analytical model for the triple-core structure of the double-core vortex. Additionally we numerically calculate the structure of a double-core vortex stretched between pinning sites, and show that the HQV picture becomes more applicable when separation between subcores becomes large.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2024

Structure of a single-quantum vortex in $^3$He-A

We have performed numerical calculations of the structure of the single-quantum vortex in superfluid $^3$He-A. The GPU-accelerated large-scale numerical simulation is performed in the Ginzburg-Landau model and resolves length scales of both coherence-length-sized hard core and dipolar-length-sized soft core of the vortex. The calculations support previously suggested qualitative structure of the vortex, recently named as eccentric fractional skyrmion, and provide numerical values for the vortex energy, sizes and locations of the hard and soft cores and highly-asymmetric flow profile of the vortex.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2024

Competition of vortex core structures in superfluid $^3$He-B

Among vortex structures identified so far in superfluid $^3$He-B, the most common are the A-phase-core vortex and the double-core vortex. According to earlier numerical calculations, the double-core vortex is energetically favored nearly everywhere in the $p$-$T$ phase diagram. Nevertheless, in experiments the A-phase-core vortex has been observed down to temperatures of $0.6T_{\mathrm{c}}$ at high pressures. We use the Ginzburg-Landau formalism to calculate the energies of the two vortex structures in the experimentally relevant magnetic field as well as the energy barrier for the transition between the two structures. Assigning vanishing barrier as the boundary of the metastability region of the A-phase-core vortex, we reproduce the experimentally measured vortex phase diagram and provide an explanation for the reappearance of the double-core vortex near the critical temperature $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ at low pressures: The difference in Zeeman energy between the two vortex structures becomes relatively more important close to $T_{\mathrm{c}}$, and the A-phase-core vortex becomes unstable. In contrast to the equilibrium vortex structures, we suggest that the vortex nucleation process favors the A-phase-core vortex over the double-core vortex. Our approach can be used to analyze competition between different vortex structures in other unconventional superfluids and superconductors.

cond-mat.other↗