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The nucleation of vortices in superfluid4He: Answers and questions

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Abstract

The velocity threshold for phase slips, vc, has been measured in ultra-pure4He and ultra-dilute3He-4He mixtures, down to a temperature of 15 mK. These experiments have revealed a crossover from a temperature-dependent régime above ∼ 150 mK to a plateau of v c below in ultra-pure4He. Concentrations of3He impurities as low as a few parts in 10−9 greatly affect the plateau régime, causing v c to decrease markedly at low temperature. These observations are interpreted in the framework of the nucleation, either thermally activated or by quantum tunnelling, of vortices in the approximate shape of half-rings. These vortices form on wall asperities at local velocities us estimated to be ∼ 22 m/s in these experiments. The half-ring model is shown to yield a critical velocity of the same magnitude but leaves many basic questions unanswered.

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Author notes

  1. G. G. Ihas

    Present address: Center for Ultra-Low Temperature Research, Williamson Hall, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Physique de l'État Condensé, Centre d'Études de Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

    O. Avenel, G. G. Ihas & E. Varoquaux

  2. Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Université Paris-Sud, Bât. 510, 91405, Orsay, France

    E. Varoquaux

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Avenel, O., Ihas, G.G. & Varoquaux, E. The nucleation of vortices in superfluid4He: Answers and questions. J Low Temp Phys 93, 1031–1057 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692047

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