In physics, a quantum vortex is a topological defect exhibited in superfluids and superconductors. The existence of these quantum vortices was predicted by Lars Onsager in 1947 in connection with superfluid Helium. Onsager also pointed out that quantum vortices describe circulation of superfluid and conjectured that their excitations are responsible for superfluid phase transition. These ideas of Onsager were further developed by Richard Feynman in 1955 and in 1957 were applied to describe magnectic phase diagram of type-II superconductors by Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov in the 1950s.
Quantum vortices are observed experimentally in Type-II superconductors, liquid helium, and atomic gases (see Bose-Einstein condensate).
In a superfluid, a quantum vortex "carries" quantized angular momentum, thus allowing the superfluid to rotate; in a superconductor, the vortex carries quantized magnetic flux.
Read more about Quantum Vortex: Vortex in A Superfluid, Vortex in A Superconductor, Statistical Mechanics of Vortex Lines
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