Critical velocity and dissipation mechanism in finite superfluid ⁴He nanodroplets

A hallmark of superfluidity is the frictionless motion of an object below the Landau critical velocity; Whether this concept applies to nanoscale droplets remains unclear. Using time-dependent density functional theory, we investigate the motion of a sodium atom on the surface and inside a superfluid helium nanodroplet. For surface motion, we identify a critical velocity above which energy dissipation through ripplon excitation and the formation of surface-bound quantized vortices leads to rapid deceleration. Inside the droplet, the atom is slowed down to a steady-state velocity that depends on the initial speed, contrasting experiments reporting a critical velocity for dopants ejected from droplets [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 153002 (2013)]. Remarkably, the velocity of the ejected atom is nearly independent of its initial velocity. We demonstrate that this behavior results from the bursting of the bubble surrounding the atom at the droplet surface, challenging the previous experimental interpretation.