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Tuning the critical current in toroidal superfluids via controllable impurities

K. Xhani1,2,3, G. Del Pace1,2,4,5, N. Grani1,2,5, D. Hernández-Rajkov1,2,5, B. Donelli1,2, G. Roati1,2,5, and L. Pezzè1,2

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Phys. Rev. A 113, L051301 – Published 21 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/316q-596d

Abstract

We combine numerical and experimental approaches to study how impurities affect the maximum superflow in an annular Bose-Einstein condensate. By tuning the impurity density and radial position, we precisely control persistent-current stability: it increases with the number of impurities and when impurities are placed at larger radii. In the unstable regime, the complex vortex motion within the impurity landscape, characterized by pinning and unpinning events, governs the timescale of the current decay and its final value. Our work establishes atomic superfluids as a pristine platform for exploring universal mechanisms of superflow stabilization and decay, paving the way for atomtronic quantum technologies.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, L051301– Published 21 May, 2026
  • Received 13 November 2025
  • Accepted 20 April 2026
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