SCATTERING OF SUPERFLUID VORTEX RINGS

The time evolution and scattering interactions of superfluid vortex ri ngs are studied using the Gross-Pitaevskii model, in order to consider the maintenance and generation of vorticity in superfluid flows, and to compare ring dynamics in Navier-Stokes and superfluids. For a singl e ring, we verify previous analytic results on stability and the value of the translation velocity. When two vortex rings scatter, we generi cally observe merger and subsequent breakup in cases of close approach . Depending on the initial conditions, the final state can contain zer o, two, or more final rings.