Origin of the Magnus force on a vortex in fermion superfluids and superconductors.

Abstract

Starting from the time-dependent version of the Feynman-Hellmann theorem, the Magnus force acting on a vortex in fermion superfluid is expressed via the adiabatic curvature over the space of vortex positions. With use of the Bogoliubov--de Gennes approximation, the Magnus force in a homogeneous superfluid at T=0 is shown to originate from virtual transitions between the lowest quasiparticle core bound states. Nonadiabatic corrections to the curvature are obtained to second order in vortex velocity. The adiabatic approximation is shown to break down at a critical velocity equal to the vortex velocity in the first Landau level. The effect of elastic scattering on the Magnus force is discussed in terms of the relaxation-time approximation. It is suggested that this approximation is appropriate only for a large-scale vortex motion. In this case, the effective Magnus force is drastically reduced when the elastic-scattering rate exceeds the core excitation frequency. We conjecture that quantum vortex tunneling is governed by a local Magnus force obtained from the Berry phase approach.