Critical Dynamics of a Two-dimensional Superfluid near a Non-Thermal Fixed Point

Abstract

Critical dynamics of an ultracold Bose gas far from equilibrium is studied in two spatial dimensions. Superfluid turbulence is created by quenching the equilibrium state close to zero temperature. Instead of immediately re-thermalizing, the system approaches a meta-stable transient state, characterized as a non-thermal fixed point. A focus is set on the vortex density and vortex-antivortex correlations which characterize the evolution towards the non-thermal fixed point and the departure to final (quasi-)condensation. Two distinct power-law regimes in the vortex-density decay are found and discussed in terms of a vortex binding-unbinding transition and a kinetic description of vortex scattering. A possible relation to decaying turbulence in classical fluids is pointed out. By comparing the results to equilibrium studies of a two-dimensional Bose gas, an intuitive understanding of the location of the non-thermal fixed point in a reduced phase space is developed.

Comments: 11 pages, 13 figures; PRA version