Creation of quantized vortices at the lambda transition in liquid Helium-4

Hendry, P. C. and Lawson, N. S. and Lee, R. A. M. and McClintock, Peter V. E. and Williams, C. D. H. (1993) Creation of quantized vortices at the lambda transition in liquid Helium-4. Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 93 (5-6). pp. 1059-1067. ISSN 0022-2291

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Abstract

A fast (ca. 3 ms) adiabatic expansion of a volume of liquid He-4 through the lambda transition is being used to study the nature of the transition and to model the cosmological false vacuum to true vacuum phase transition of the early universe. Preliminary results are reported showing that, in accordance with theoretical predictions by W H Zurek (Nature 317, 505; 1985), there is copious production of quantized vortex lines, which represent the superfluid analogue of cosmic strings. The line density after the expansion appears to decay in two distinct stages, with a fast decay being followed by a much slower one, in agreement with earlier work on the decay of quantum turbulence created in thermal counterflow. Extrapolation of the initial fast decay suggests an initial line density, immediately following the expansion, of ca. 10 to power 7 per square cm. Smaller, but still substantial, vortex densities are also found to occur when the system is expanded from below the lambda transition, and the physical implications are discussed.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Additional Information:
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00692048 Proceedings of the Conference on the Role of the Condensate and Vorticity in Dense Bose Systems, 1-3 August 1993, in Minneapolis.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2500
Subjects:
?? materials science(all)atomic and molecular physics, and opticscondensed matter physicsqc physics ??
ID Code:
32157
Deposited On:
16 Mar 2010 11:43
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
29 Feb 2024 00:38