Detecting the quantum zero-point motion of vortices in the cuprate superconductors

We explore the experimental implications of a recent theory of the quantum dynamics of vortices in two-dimensional superfluids proximate to Mott insulators. The theory predicts modulations in the local density of states in the regions over which the vortices execute their quantum zero-point motion. We use the spatial extent of such modulations in scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements [J.E. Hoffman, E.W. Hudson, K.M. Lang, V. Madhavan, S.H. Pan, H. Eisaki, S. Uchida, J.C. Davis, Science 295 (2002) 466] on the vortex lattice of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ to estimate the inertial mass of a point vortex. We discuss other, more direct, experimental signatures of the vortex dynamics.