Inverse energy cascade in forced two-dimensional quantum turbulence

Reeves, M.T.; Billam, T.P.; Anderson, B.P.; Bradley, A.S.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.110.104501

Inverse energy cascade in forced two-dimensional quantum turbulence

Reeves, M.T.; Billam, T.P.; Anderson, B.P.; Bradley, A.S.

Authors

M.T. Reeves

T.P. Billam

B.P. Anderson

A.S. Bradley

Abstract

We demonstrate an inverse energy cascade in a minimal model of forced 2D quantum vortex turbulence. We simulate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a moving superfluid subject to forcing by a stationary grid of obstacle potentials, and damping by a stationary thermal cloud. The forcing injects large amounts of vortex energy into the system at the scale of a few healing lengths. A regime of forcing and damping is identified where vortex energy is efficiently transported to large length scales via an inverse energy cascade associated with the growth of clusters of same-circulation vortices, a Kolmogorov scaling law in the kinetic energy spectrum over a substantial inertial range, and spectral condensation of kinetic energy at the scale of the system size. Our results provide clear evidence that the inverse energy cascade phenomenon, previously observed in a diverse range of classical systems, can also occur in quantum fluids.

Citation

Reeves, M., Billam, T., Anderson, B., & Bradley, A. (2013). Inverse energy cascade in forced two-dimensional quantum turbulence. Physical Review Letters, 110(10), Article 104501. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.104501

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Mar 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Jul 23, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Sep 9, 2014
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Print ISSN	0031-9007
Electronic ISSN	1079-7114
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	110
Issue	10
Article Number	104501
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.104501

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Reprinted with permission from the American Physical Society: Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 104501 © (2013) by the American Physical Society. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for temporary copying purposes only, provided these uses are for noncommercial personal purposes. Except as provided by law, this material may not be further reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, adapted, performed, displayed, published, or sold in whole or part, without prior written permission from the American Physical Society.