Superfluidity Meets the Solid State: Frictionless Mass Transport through a (5,5) Carbon Nanotube

Year: 2023

Authors: Ambrosetti A., Silvestrelli PL., Salasnich L.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Padua, Dipartimento Fis & Astron, via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padua, Italy; Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Padova, via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padua, Italy; Ist Nazl Ott Consiglio Nazl Ric, Unita Sesto Fiorentino, via Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy.

Abstract: Superfluidity is a well-characterized quantum phenomenon which entails frictionless motion of mesoscopic particles through a superfluid, such as 4He or dilute atomic gases at very low temperatures. As shown by Landau, the incompatibility between energy and momentum conservation, which ultimately stems from the spectrum of the elementary excitations of the superfluid, forbids quantum scattering between the superfluid and the moving mesoscopic particle, below a critical speed threshold. Here, we predict that frictionless motion can also occur in the absence of a standard superfluid, i.e., when a He atom travels through a narrow (5,5) carbon nanotube (CNT). Because of the quasilinear dispersion of the plasmon and phonon modes that could interact with He, the (5,5) CNT embodies a solid-state analog of the superfluid, thereby enabling straightforward transfer of Landau’s criterion of superfluidity. As a result, Landau’s equations acquire broader generality and may be applicable to other nanoscale friction phenomena, whose description has been so far purely classical.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 131 (20)      Pages from: 206301-1  to: 206301-6

More Information: A. A. and P. L. S. acknowledge funding from Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo (CARIPARO) – grant EngvdW. A. A. acknowledges funding from the University of Padova – PARD grant. L. S. thanks Andrea Perali for useful discussions. L. S. is partially supported by the European Quantum Flagship Project PASQuanS 2, by the European Union-NextGenerationEU within the National Center for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing (Project No. CN00000013, CN1 Spoke 10: Quantum Computing ) , by the BIRD Project Ultracold atoms in curved geometries of the University of Padova, and by Iniziativa Specifica Quantum of INFN. A. A. conceived this work and derived the model, carried out analytical and numerical calculations, wrote the article, and prepared figures. P. L. S. contributed to the conceptual development of the model and to ab initio calculations. L. S. introduced the interpretation of the phenomenon in terms of generalized superfluidity, contributed to revisions, and indicated how to perform calculations at finite T .
KeyWords: Liquid-helium; Flow; Water; Graphite; Phonons; Van
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.206301

Citations: 2
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