CA24139 - Superfluid Condensates in Astrophysics and Laboratory Experiments (SCALES)

Superfluidity is a striking phenomenon observed in many quantum fluids, which can flow without viscosity when cooled to low temperatures. Recent experimental advances allow us to study and visualise the complex flows of these systems in the presence of vorticity, and track the dynamics of quantum vortices far from equilibrium, both for bosonic and fermionic superfluids. Experiments with helium-4 and helium-3 allow the analysis of quantum turbulence on different scales, while cold atomic gases allow exquisite studies of single vortex dynamics in a variety of regimes, spanning the entire crossover from molecular Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluids. Moreover, a growing body of theoretical and observational evidence suggests that nucleons in neutron stars are paired and form a fermionic superfluid, the dynamics of which is thought to be at the origin of the observed radio pulsar glitches.

The next years will bring a wealth of data on neutron star dynamics, from new radio observatories such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), but especially from gravitational wave observations with next-generation detectors, like the planned European Einstein Telescope (ET). Direct laboratory analogues of superfluid neutron stars are now being studied with superfluids on rotating platforms, but this connection is neither systematically explored nor disseminated among the relevant scientific communities. 

SCALES will bring together novel laboratory experiments, emerging massive parallel simulations, and neutron star experts to kickstart this new avenue of superfluidity research and pave the way for new discoveries across different scales.