Quantum vortices near the superconductor-insulator transition in Josephson junction arrays

Abstract

We investigate the properties of vortices in Josephson junction arrays in the regime close to the superconductor-insulator transition. We derive general expressions for the vortex mass and the vortex-spinwave coupling in terms of the charge-charge correlation function, which we evaluate in a self consistent harmonic approximation, as well as by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Our main conclusions are that close to the transition to the insulating phase the vortex mass vanishes and the threshold velocity above which vortices couple to spinwaves diverges. Thus, in the quantum regime close to the phase transition there is a velocity window in which vortices may move ballistically without damping, this in contrast to the flux flow behaviour in classical arrays.