Coupled Quantum Vortex Kinematics and Berry Curvature in Real Space

Phase vortices and skyrmions manifest as rotational entities in condensates, superfluids, and optics, typically revealed by the analysis of the Berry curvature. Via two-component microcavity polaritons, the authors imprint a dynamical pseudospin texture to the emitted light, generating a continuous vortex with two ultrafast spiraling cores. The Berry curvature provides a powerful tool to unify several branches of science through their geometrical aspect: topology, energy bands, spin and vector fields. While quantum defects-phase vortices and skyrmions-have been in the spotlight, as rotational entities in condensates, superfluids and optics, their dynamics in multi-component fields remain little explored. Here we use two-component microcavity polaritons to imprint a dynamical pseudospin texture in the form of a double full Bloch beam, a conformal continuous vortex beyond unitary skyrmions. The Berry curvature plays a key role to link various quantum spaces available to describe such textures. It explains for instance the ultrafast spiraling in real space of two singular vortex cores, providing in particular a simple expression-also involving the complex Rabi frequency-for their intricate velocity. Such Berry connections open new perspectives for understanding and controlling highly-structured quantum objects, including strongly asymmetric cases or even higher multi-component fields.