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Direct excitation of Kelvin waves on quantized vortices

Nature Physics volume 21, pages 233–238 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Helices and spirals, prevalent across various physical systems, play a crucial role in characterizing symmetry, describing dynamics and enabling unique functionalities, all stemming from their inherent simplicity and chiral nature. Helical excitations on quantized vortices, referred to as Kelvin waves, are one example of such a physical system. Kelvin waves play a vital role in energy dissipation within inviscid quantum fluids. However, deliberately exciting Kelvin waves has proven to be challenging. Here we introduce a controlled method for exciting Kelvin waves on a quantized vortex in superfluid helium-4. We used a charged nanoparticle that oscillates when driven by a time-varying electric field to stimulate Kelvin waves on the vortex. Confirmation of the helical nature of Kelvin waves was achieved through three-dimensional image reconstruction, which provided visual evidence of their complex dynamics. Additionally, we determined the dispersion relation and the phase velocity of the Kelvin wave and identified the vorticity direction, thus enhancing our understanding of quantum fluid behaviour. This work elucidates the dynamics of Kelvin waves and initiates an approach for manipulating and observing quantized vortices in three dimensions, thereby opening avenues for exploring quantum fluidic systems.

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Fig. 1: Kelvin wave excitation and its dispersion relation.
Fig. 2: Experimental three-dimensional visualization of Kelvin wave dynamics along a quantized vortex.
Fig. 3: Numerical simulation of Kelvin wave excitation on a quantized vortex.
Fig. 4: Propagation of Kelvin waves.

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Data availability

The data presented in this paper are available from Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13959678 (ref. 41). Other data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the MEXT/JSPS (KAKENHI Grant Nos. JP22H05139, JP23K03282, JP23KJ1832 and JP23K03305) and by JST PRESTO, Japan (Grant No. JPMJPR1909).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Japan

    Yosuke Minowa, Yuki Yasui & Masaaki Ashida

  2. Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Yosuke Minowa

  3. The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Yosuke Minowa

  4. Department of Physics, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan

    Tomo Nakagawa

  5. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FA, USA

    Sosuke Inui

  6. Mechanical Engineering Department, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FA, USA

    Sosuke Inui

  7. Department of Physics, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan

    Makoto Tsubota

  8. Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan

    Makoto Tsubota

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  1. Yosuke Minowa
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  2. Yuki Yasui
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  3. Tomo Nakagawa
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  4. Sosuke Inui
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Contributions

Y.M. conceived, designed and guided the whole project. Y.M. and Y.Y. performed the experiments and analysed the data. T.N., S.I. and M.T. conducted the vortex filament simulation and the analysis. M.A. provided technical support. Y.M. wrote the paper with inputs from all co-authors.

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Correspondence to Yosuke Minowa.

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Nature Physics thanks Daniel Lathrop, Sergey Nazarenko and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Discussions on the dispersion relation of Kelvin waves.

Supplementary Video 1

Experimental three-dimensional visualization of the dynamics of Kelvin waves along a quantized vortex, observed from the top.

Supplementary Video 2

Experimental three-dimensional visualization of the dynamics of Kelvin waves along a quantized vortex, observed from the side.

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Minowa, Y., Yasui, Y., Nakagawa, T. et al. Direct excitation of Kelvin waves on quantized vortices. Nat. Phys. 21, 233–238 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02720-9

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