Comment on Vortex Mass and Quantum Tunneling of Vortices

Vortex mass in Fermi superfluids and superconductors and its influence on quantum tunneling of vortices are discussed. The vortex mass is essentially enhanced due to the fermion zero modes in the core of the vortex: the bound states of the Bogoliubov qiasiparticles localized in the core. However, even with this enhancement, the contribution of the inertial term into the quantum tunneling exponent is still small compared to the effect of the Magnus force. The vortex mass is thought to be an important issue for the problem of the quantum tunneling of vortices. The latter problem is popular now and many experiments are discussed in terms of the macroscopic quantum tunneling of vortices in superfluids or superconductors. The firm experimental prove for the quantum nucleation of vortices is still absent. On the other hand the characteristic plateau in the temperature dependence of the critical velocity, which is always ascribed to the quantum nucleation, has been also observed in superfluid 3 He-B [1]. However the time of the quantum nucleation of the vortex in 3 He-B is 10 10 6 , which is extremely big in any units. The vortices in 1