 Roton

A roton is an excitation near a local minimum of a superfluid's dispersion relation at nonzero momentum $p_0$. The displayed local approximation defines a positive energy gap $\Delta$ and positive curvature effective mass $m_r$; it is not a free helium atom or a macroscopic quantum vortex.^[ref] In the stipulated plot, these correspond to $p_0=2p_{\ast }$, $\Delta =0.6E_{\ast }$ and $m_r=p_{\ast }^2/(4E_{\ast })$. The plot illustrates how a low energy at appreciable momentum can lower the Landau criterion below the speed of sound, without assigning any measured parameter to real helium.

Landau's 1947 revision joined the low-momentum linear part to a spectrum with a finite-momentum minimum, retaining the macroscopic superfluid theory while changing its excitation model.^[ref]

The term "roton" can refer to a few different concepts, depending on the context. The most prominent definitions are: 1. **Quantum Fluid Dynamics**: In the context of condensed matter physics, a "roton" is an elementary excitation mode in a superfluid, specifically in helium-4. Rotons are a type of quasiparticle that describes the excitations at low temperatures.