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Enhancement of Damping in a Turbulent Atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate

Junghoon Lee1,2, Jongmin Kim1,2, Jongheum Jung1, and Y. Shin1,2,3,*

  • *Contact author: yishin@snu.ac.kr
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 253402 – Published 23 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nzvm-3mmb

Abstract

Turbulence enhances momentum transport in classical fluids, effectively increasing their viscosity. We investigate an analogous effect in a superfluid by measuring the damping of collective oscillations in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) containing stationary spin-superflow turbulence. Using continuous spin driving to maintain turbulence in a spin-1 Na23 BEC, we excite its quadrupole mode and measure the damping rate over a range of temperatures. The damping consistently exceeds the Landau-damping rate expected for an equilibrium, nonturbulent BEC. The enhancement likely originates from two complementary processes: direct energy transfer from the mode to turbulent condensate fluctuations and turbulence-induced modification of the thermal cloud that amplifies Landau damping. These results establish collective-mode damping as a sensitive probe of momentum transport in superfluid turbulence.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 253402– Published 23 June, 2026
  • Received 11 February 2025
  • Revised 22 August 2025
  • Accepted 19 May 2026
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