Single vortex–antivortex pair in an exciton-polariton condensate

Bound pairs consisting of a vortex and an antivortex are expected to dominate the low-temperature physics in a variety of two-dimensional systems. The observation of such bound pairs, however, remains elusive. A study now establishes non-equilibrium condensates of exciton-polaritons as a platform for exploring the physics of vortex–antivortex pairs. In a homogeneous two-dimensional system at non-zero temperaturethere can be no ordering of infinite range 1 , 2 . However, for a Bose liquid under such conditions, a superfluid phase is predicted 3 , 4 , 5 . Bound vortex–antivortex pairs dominate the thermodynamics and phase coherence properties in this superfluid regime. It is believed that several systems share this behaviour when the parameter describing their ordered state has two degrees of freedom 6 . This theory has been tested for some of them 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , but there has been no direct experimental observation of a quasi-condensate that includes a bound vortex–antivortex pair. Here we present an experimental technique that can identify a single vortex–antivortex pair in a two-dimensional exciton-polariton condensate. The pair is generated through the inhomogeneous spot profile of the pumping laser, and is revealed in the time-integrated phase maps acquired using Michelson interferometry. Numerical modelling based on the open-dissipative Gross–Pitaevskii equation suggests that the pair evolution is distinctly different in this non-equilibrium system compared with atomic condensates 13 .