Half-quantum vortices and walls bounded by strings in the polar-distorted phases of topological superfluid ${}^3$He

Abstract

Symmetries of the physical world have guided formulation of fundamental laws, including relativistic quantum field theory and understanding of possible states of matter. Topological defects (TDs) often control the universal behavior of macroscopic quantum systems, while topology and broken symmetries determine allowed TDs. Taking advantage of the symmetry-breaking patterns in the phase diagram of nanoconfined superfluid ${}^3$He, we show that half-quantum vortices (HQVs) -- linear topological defects carrying half quantum of circulation -- survive transitions from the polar phase to other superfluid phases with polar distortion. In the polar-distorted A phase, HQV cores in 2D systems should harbor non-Abelian Majorana modes. In the polar-distorted B phase, HQVs form composite defects -- walls bounded by strings hypothesized decades ago in cosmology. Our experiments establish the superfluid phases of ${}^3$He in nanostructured confinement as a promising topological media for further investigations ranging from topological quantum computing to cosmology and grand unification scenarios.

arXiv comment17 pages, 11 figures

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Cited by in corpus (49)

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• Observation of wall-vortex composite defects in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate
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• Topological nodal line in superfluid ${}^3$He and the Anderson theorem
• Non-Abelian Anyons and Non-Abelian Vortices in Topological Superconductors
• Combined Lorentz symmetry: lessons from superfluid 3He
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• Kibble-Zurek mechanism in polariton graphene
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• Strong-coupling corrections to hard domain walls in superfluid 3He-B
• Supercurrent-Induced Weyl Superconductivity
• Two roads to antispacetime in polar distorted B phase: Kibble wall and half-quantum vortex
• Superfluid phase transition of nanoscale-confined helium-3
• Investigating the dynamics of point helical vortices on a rotating sphere to model tropical cyclones
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• Superfluid Quantum Criticality in Liquid 3He in Anisotropic Aerogel
• 50 years in the Landau Institute environment
• Time crystal optomechanics
• Effect of Dipole Energy on Half-Quantum Vortex in Superfluid Polar Phase
• Vectorizing Quantum Turbulence Vortex-Core Lines for Real-Time Visualization
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