Topological swimming in a quantum sea
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2009-11-11 v2 Mathematical Physics
math.MP
Abstract
We propose a quantum theory of swimming for swimmers that are small relative to the coherence length of the medium. The quantum swimming equation is derived from known results on quantum pumps. For a one-dimensional Fermi gas at zero temperature we find that swimming is topological: The distance covered in one swimming stroke is quantized in half integer multiples of the Fermi wave length. Moreover, one can swim without dissipation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0508692,
title = {Topological swimming in a quantum sea},
author = {J. E. Avron and B. Gutkin and D. H. Oaknin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0508692},
year = {2009}
}