Force on a moving point impurity due to quantum fluctuations in a Bose-Einstein condensate

An analytic expression is derived for a force on a weak point impurity arising from the scattering of quantum fluctuations in a slow-moving, weakly interacting, three-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate at zero temperature. In an infinitely extended geometry, this force is shown to exist at any arbitrarily small flow velocity below Landau’s critical velocity. Furthermore, this force is shown to be directly proportional to the flow speed.