Observation of a superfluid phase in solid helium

Evidence of a superfluid liquid phase present in polycrystalline helium at a temperature of 0.2 K and a pressure of 51 bar has been obtained by means of inelastic neutron scattering. The superfluid component is absent at a temperature of 0.6 K and the same pressure. Thus, a “solid helium-superfluid helium” phase transition has been discovered. The sample of solid helium in a porous medium (silica aerogel) has been prepared with the use of a capillary blocking technique. The shape of the structure factor of the superfluid phase indicates the presence of clusters or the effects of a restricted geometry. The results may be used to explain the nonclassical rotational inertia phenomenon in solid helium (often referred to as supersolidity, Nature, 2004).     

Electron impact ionization of thymine clusters embedded in superfluid helium droplets

Embedding molecules in helium clusters has become a powerful technique for the preparation of cold targets for spectroscopy experiments, as well as for the assembly of complex, fragile molecular species. We have recently developed a helium cluster source and a pick-up cell to produce neutral beams of doped helium droplets, to be used as targets in studies on electron collisions with molecules of biological relevance. In the present work we present the results of a series of experiments on electron-impact ionization of helium clusters doped with thymine and 1-methylthymine, where several interesting phenomena were observed, i.e., (i) electron impact ionization of molecular clusters inside the helium droplets leads predominantly to protonated clusters; (ii) the appearance energies are close to the ionization threshold of the helium atom but ionization efficiency curves in addition extend down by several eV; (iii) ionized molecular clusters can undergo metastable decay via the loss of one neutral monomer.     

Rogue waves in superfluid helium

Rogue waves have been observed in superfluid helium. The experimental system consists of high intensity second sound (temperature-entropy) waves within a resonant cavity. Under steady state conditions, with a constant oscillatory driving force at the resonant frequency, the waves are turbulent and there are fluxes of energy towards both high and low frequencies. Rogue waves appear under the nonequilibrium conditions that prevail shortly after the drive has been switched on, prior to establishment of the steady state. The experiment is described briefly, relevant results are presented and discussed theoretically in terms of nonlinear wave interactions, and possible connections to rogue waves on the ocean are considered.     

Atoms and ions in superfluid helium

Optical spectra of atomic impurities in liquid helium have been investigated. Comparison is made between the wavelength of the free atomic and ionic lines and those in the liquid helium matrix. Simultaneously, the line width and a possible asymmetry is recorded. Presence and absence of radiative transitions depend on the species of the atom implanted in the quantum fluid. The absence of any optical transitions from states lying as low as 1,8 eV below the ionization limit will be explained in this paper.     

Atoms and ions in superfluid helium

Optical spectra, level population and nonradiative deexcitation processes of atomic impurities in liquid helium have been investigated. The recombination of electrons and positive metal ions are described by the tunneling model. This model explains the population gap of 1.8 eV below the ionisation limit which was observed for several neutral defect atoms in liquid helium. In the framework of a pseudopotential theory excited singlet levels of Ba, Ca and Na atoms are recalculated and compared to experimental data. Non-spherical atomic defects for excited p-states are treated also. Quadrupole vibrations of these distorted defect structures are assumed to be responsible for inducing multiphonon transitions between excited atomic states.     

UCN production in superfluid helium

Ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) are produced in superfluid helium by single- and multi-phonon excitation. The UCN production rate density R _II via multiphonons can be larger than that by one-phonon excitation R _I being due to the dependence of the incident neutron spectral flux density dφ/dλ on the wavelength λ. Received: 28 March 2002 / Accepted: 19 December 2002 / Published online: 11 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: wschott@e18.physik.tu-muenchen.de RID="b" ID="b"On leave of absence from PNPI, Gatchina, Russia Communicated by T. Walcher     

Topological defects in superfluid helium

Some aspects of classical field-theoretic phenomenology of superfluid helium are presented.     

Cavitation in superfluid helium-4 at low temperature

We have studied the nucleation of bubbles in pure superfluid helium-4 at temperatures down to 65 mK. We have found that the nucleation is a stochastic process, and that at temperatures below 600 mK the nucleation rate is independent of temperature. These results are consistent with the assumption that the nucleation takes place via quantum tunneling. Received: 15 November 1997 / Received in final form: 19 December 1997 / Accepted: 22 January 1998     

超流氦多孔塞相分离器的研究综述

超流氦恒温器是远红外探测器冷却系统的主要设备,气液相分离器则是超流氦恒温器的关键部件,能有效完成超流氦的气液分离,防止泄漏并实现空间液体的综合管理。文中介绍了在空间红外探测中应用较多的多孔塞相分离器的工作原理,描述了多孔塞的流量特性曲线,并对曲线上各工作区域的质量流量与温差(压差)的关系式进行了介绍。文中还对多孔塞的制备工艺进行了分析,并结合国内外研究进展给出了合理选择多孔塞所需要注意的相关参数。     

The Fulde-Ferrell state in superfluid helium

The Fulde-Ferrell state in a superfluid³He-⁴HeII solution is investigated. Starting from its broken symmetry, a relative translation-gauge symmetry, the linearized hydrodynamic equations to lowest order in wave number are presented. To this order, the superfluid current perpendicular to the preferred direction vanishes identically; at the same time, supercurrents generated by a uniform change in temperature or density become possible. The Goldstone mode of the Fulde-Ferrell state is shown to be a propagating spin-temperature-shear wave.     

Electron temperature measurements in low-density plasmas by helium spectroscopy

Methods of measuring the electron temperature in low-density plasmas by He spectroscopy are examined. These utilize either the relative intensities of singlet and triplet lines or the absolute intensities of single lines. Calculations from measured and theoretical data show that both methods are seriously influenced by secondary processes, the most important of which are excitation from the metastable levels 2¹S and 2³S, and excitation transfer in electron-atom collisions combined with imprisonment of resonance radiation. The calculations give parameter limits for the validity of different methods and combinations of lines. Due to the secondary processes, the determination of T_e from relative line intensities is restricted to low-density, short-duration plasmas (typically n_e < 2 × 10¹⁶ m^-3, t_ex < 5 × 10^-6 s) or to even lower densities that depend on the apparatus dimensions (typically n_e < 3 × 10¹⁵ m^-3, L ≈ 0.1 m). For the determination of T_e from absolute line intensities, the situation is more favourable and, with a suitable choice of lines, typical restrictions on n_e and t_ex are n_e < 5 × 10¹⁷ m^-3, t_ex < 10^-5 s or n_e < 10¹⁷ m^-3, L ≈ 0.1 m for electron temperatures above 10 eV. For temperatures below 10 eV and degrees of imprisonment below 7% measurements are possible for electron densities up to 10¹⁹–10²⁰ m^-3, without any limits on t_ex or L.     

Dynamical effects in superfluid helium 4

The close structural similarity between the commutation relations of harmonic oscillator operators and the operators for Bose fields is exploited to study the excitation spectrum in superfluid helium 4. By applying ‘broken symmetry’ condition it is shown how the creation of phonon gives rise to superfluid behaviour of liquid He 4. The energy gap needed for roton excitation is derived.     

Passive scalar intermittency in low temperature helium flows

We report new measurements of mixing of passive temperature field in a turbulent flow. The use of low temperature helium gas allows us to span a range of microscale Reynolds number, R(lambda), from 100 to 650. The exponents xi(n) of the temperature structure functions approximately r(xi(n)) are shown to saturate to xi(infinity) approximately 1.45+/-0.1 for the highest orders, n approximately 10. This saturation is a signature of statistics dominated by frontlike structures, the cliffs. Statistics of the cliffs' characteristics are performed, particularly their widths are shown to scale as the Kolmogorov length scale.     

Electrical breakdown in helium cells at low temperature

Electrical breakdown of partially filled helium cells below 0.5 K is shown to be the result of Penning ionization of metastable triplet helium excimers bound to the surface of the liquid.     

Coexistence of superfluid and solid helium in aerogel

The results of recent neutron scattering studies of solid helium in silica aerogel are discussed. Previously I.V. Kalinin et al., Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 87 (1), 743 (2008) [JETP Lett. 87 (1), 645 (2008)], we detected the existence of a superfluid phase in solid helium at a temperature below 0.6 K and a pressure of 51 bar, although, according to the phase diagram, helium should be in the solid state under these conditions. This work is a continuation of the above studies whose main goal was to examine the detected phenomenon and to establish basic parameters of the existence of a superfluid phase. We have determined the temperature of the superfluid transition from solid to superfluid helium, T _C = 1.3 K, by analyzing experimental data. The superfluid phase excitation parameters (lifetime, intensity, and energy) have a temperature dependence similar to that of bulk helium. The superfluid phase coexists with the solid phase in the entire measured temperature range from T = 0.05 K to T _C and is a nonequilibrium one and disappears at T _C.     

Anisotropic system of quasiparticles in superfluid helium

The thermodynamic properties of anisotropic quasiparticle systems of He II are considered for all degrees of anisotropy. It is shown that the thermodynamic functions of a strongly anisotropic phonon-roton system are mainly determined by rotons at all temperatures. Analytical expressions for the roton thermodynamic functions are obtained for all degrees of anisotropy. The maximum anisotropy is limited by the criterion for thermodynamic stability, which is here derived for the whole temperature range.