Are vortices in rotating superfluids breaking the Weak Equivalence Principle?

Abstract

Due to the breaking of gauge symmetry in rotating superfluid Helium, the inertial mass of a vortex diverges with the vortex size. The vortex inertial mass is thus much higher than the classical inertial mass of the vortex core. An equal increase of the vortex gravitational mass is questioned. The possibility that the vortices in a rotating superfluid could break the weak equivalence principle in relation with a variable speed of light in the superfluid vacuum is debated. Experiments to test this possibility are investigated on the bases that superfluid Helium vortices would not fall, under the single influence of a uniform gravitational field, at the same rate as the rest of the superfluid Helium mass.

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