The Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a binary quantum fluid
Abstract
Instabilities, where small fluctuations seed the formation of large-scale structures, govern dynamics in a variety of fluid systems. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI), present from tabletop to astronomical scales, is an iconic example characterized by mushroom-shaped incursions appearing when immiscible fluids are forced together. Despite its ubiquity, RTI experiments are challenging; here, we report the observation of the RTI in an immiscible binary superfluid consisting of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We force these components together to initiate the instability, and observe the growth of mushroom-like structures. The interface can also be stabilized, allowing us to spectroscopically measure the "ripplon" interface modes. Lastly, we use matter-wave interferometry to transform the superfluid velocity field at the interface into a vortex chain. These results-in agreement with our theory-demonstrate the close connection between the RTI in classical and quantum fluids.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.19807,
title = {The Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a binary quantum fluid},
author = {Yanda Geng and Junheng Tao and Mingshu Zhao and Shouvik Mukherjee and Stephen Eckel and Gretchen K. Campbell and Ian B. Spielman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.19807},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
10 pages (including SM), 4 figures + 3 figures in SM