Past exam of the superconductivity and Quantum Coherence course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / Paper 1 / 1 / c / Solution

A neutral superfluid's broken global $U(1)$ phase symmetry produces a Goldstone mode. Coupling phase to density fluctuations generally gives a long-wavelength phonon with $E(p)\simeq cp$, rather than the quadratic dispersion of a noninteracting condensate. In a dilute interacting Bose gas, the Bogoliubov quasiparticle dispersion isFor a heavy weak obstacle moving at speed $v$, emitting an excitation of momentum $\mathbf{p}$ changes the available energy by $E(p)-\mathbf{v}\cdot \mathbf{p}$. The Landau criterion therefore givesThe dilute-gas spectrum has $v_L=c$. In liquid helium, a roton minimum can make the minimum ratio smaller than the sound speed; the slope of a line from the origin tangent to the full dispersion determines the kinematic bound. A neutral paired Fermi superfluid also has a fermionic pair-breaking bound of order $\Delta /p_F$ in weak coupling. The smallest relevant branch bound must be considered. Actual flow can fail earlier through vortex nucleation, surface defects or other instabilities: the excitation-energy criterion is not a complete dynamical guarantee of dissipation-free flow.