Macroscopic quantum tunnelling of vortices in He II.

Hendry, P. C. and Lawson, N. Stuart and McClintock, Peter V. E. and Williams, Charles D. H. and Bowley, R. M. (1988) Macroscopic quantum tunnelling of vortices in He II. Physical review letters, 60 (7). pp. 604-607. ISSN 1079-7114

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Abstract

Experimental evidence is presented showing that the creation of vortices in He II involves macroscopic quantum tunneling through, or thermal activation over, a potential-energy barrier E. The investigations, based on measurements of the rate at which negative ions create vortex rings in the isotopically pure superfluid within the temperature range 50 < T < 500 mK, have yielded a barrier height of E/kB = 3.1 ± 0.1 K, in excellent agreement with the theoretical value predicted by Muirhead, Vinen, and Donnelly.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Physical review letters
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/libraryofcongress/qc
Subjects:
?? PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY(ALL)QC PHYSICS ??
ID Code:
32319
Deposited On:
23 Mar 2010 10:19
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
24 Oct 2023 00:04