AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE OSCILLATION IN THE BOILING OF LIQUID HELIUM

Boiling phenomena in liquid helium II (He II) and liquid helium I (He I) were experimentally investigated. The temperature oscillations during boiling in He II are the result of the propagation of the thermal boundary layer and/or the expansion of a vapor bubble to the location of the superconductor temperature sensor. The pressure oscillations are caused by the direct contact of liquid He II with the higher-temperature heater surface. The pressure oscillations are very periodic, and there is a strong correlation between the temperature and the pressure oscillations. In the boiling of He I, bubbles detach from the heater surface and are detected by the superconductor temperature sensor. He I boiling is different from the boiling of He II in that there is no correlation between the temperature and the pressure oscillations.     

液3He中准粒子通过涡旋与固体表面之间的动量输运

本文对于与稀薄液³He-⁴He溶液相接触的振动固体表面的横声阻抗作了探讨。提出在液³He与基片之间有一准二维的超流液⁴He层的“三明治”模型,根据传输线理论得到表面阻抗与液³He的协强张量、超流⁴He层动量变化之间的关系式,推导出在“三明治”结构下量子涡旋的运动方程,并考虑涡旋运动与滑动边界条件计算了液³He中准粒子与固体表面之间的动量输运。从而由理论上 关键词：     

Quantized vortices in mixed 3He-4He drops

Using density functional theory, we investigate the structure of mixed (3)He(N3)-(4)He(N4) droplets with an embedded impurity (Xe atom or HCN molecule) which pins a quantized vortex line. We find that the dopant+vortex+(4)He(N4) complex, which in a previous work [F. Dalfovo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1028 (2000)] was found to be energetically stable below a critical size N(cr), is robust against the addition of 3He. While 3He atoms are distributed along the vortex line and on the surface of the 4He drop, the impurity is mostly coated by 4He atoms. Results for N4 = 500 and a number of 3He atoms ranging from 0 to 100 are presented, and the binding energy of the dopant to the vortex line is determined.     

Bragg scattering of light on the vortex lattice in the rotating helium II

It is shown that the light scattering on the vortex lattice in the rotating pure and impure He II is considerably increased by the generation of the second sound.     

The Effects of Wettability on Primary Vortex and Secondary Flow in Three-Dimensional Rotating Fluid

The secondary flow driven by the primary vortex in a cylinder,generating the so called "tea leaf paradox",is fundamental for understanding many natural phenomena,industrial applications and scientific researches.In this work,the effect of wettability on the primary vortex and secondary flow is investigated by the three-dimensional multiphase lattice Boltzmann method based on a chemical potential.We find that the surface wettability strongly affects the shape of the primary vortex.With the increase of the contact angle of the cylinder,the sectional plane of the primary vortex gradually changes from a steep valley into a saddle with two raised parts.Because the surface friction is reduced correspondingly,the core of the secondary vortex moves to the centerline of the cylinder and the vortex intensity also increases.The stirring force has stronger effects to enhance the secondary flow and push the vortex up than the surface wettability.Interestingly,a small secondary vortex is discovered near the three-phase contact line when the surface has a moderate wettability,owing to the interaction between the secondary flow and the curved gas/liquid interface.     

Vortex liquid crystals in anisotropic type II superconductors

In an isotropic type II superconductor in a moderate magnetic field, the transition to the normal state occurs by vortex lattice melting. In certain anisotropic cases, the vortices acquire elongated cross sections and interactions. Systems of anisotropic, interacting constituents generally exhibit liquid crystalline phases. We examine the possibility of a two step melting in homogeneous type II superconductors with anisotropic superfluid stiffness from a vortex lattice into first a vortex smectic and then a vortex nematic at high temperature and magnetic field. We find that fluctuations of the ordered phase favor an instability to an intermediate smectic-A in the absence of intrinsic pinning.     

Laser spectroscopic investigation of Ca atoms in liquid helium

Excitation and emission spectra of the 4s21S0 – 4s4p1P1 and 4s4p3PJ(J = 0, 1, 2) – 4s5s3S1 transitions of Ca atoms implanted not only in liquid 4He but also in liquid 3He have been measured. It has been found that the excitation spectra for liquid 3He show considerably smaller widths and peak shifts from transition wavelengths of a free Ca atom, in comparison with those for liquid 4He. These spectral characteristics have been well reproduced by our theoretical calculation based on a vibrating bubble model. This calculation has shown that, due to a significant difference in surface tension between the two liquids, the radius of a bubble formed around Ca in liquid 3He is larger than the one in 4He, and that this fact as well as the smaller number density of He atoms in liquid 3He cause weaker perturbation for Ca, resulting in the smaller peak shift and width for liquid 3He.     

Thermal fluctuations of vortex matter in trapped bose-einstein condensates

We perform Monte Carlo studies of vortices in three dimensions in a cylindrical confinement, with uniform and nonuniform density. The former is relevant to rotating 4He; the latter is relevant to a rotating trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. In the former case, we find dominant angular thermal vortex fluctuations close to the cylinder wall. For the latter case, a novel effect is that at low temperatures the vortex solid close to the center of the trap crosses directly over to a tensionless vortex tangle near the edge of the trap. At higher temperatures an intermediate tensionful vortex liquid located between the vortex solid and the vortex tangle may exist.     

Traces of vortices in superfluid helium droplets

We report on the observation of vortices in superfluid 4He droplets produced in the expansion of liquid He. The vortices were traced by introducing Ag atoms, which clustered along the vortex lines, into the droplets. The Ag clusters were subsequently surface-deposited and imaged via electron microscopy. The prevalence of elongated track-shaped deposits shows that vortices are present in droplets larger than about 300 nm and that their lifetime exceeds a few milliseconds. We discuss the possible formation mechanisms and the stability of the vortices.     

Pinning of quantized vortices in helium drops by dopant atoms and molecules

Using a density functional method, we investigate the properties of liquid 4He droplets doped with atoms (Ne and Xe) and molecules ( SF6 and hydrogen cyanide). We consider the case of droplets having a quantized vortex pinned to the dopant. A liquid-drop formula is proposed that accurately describes the total energy of the complex and allows one to extrapolate the density functional results to large N. For a given impurity, we find that the formation of a dopant+vortex+(4)He(N) complex is energetically favored below a critical size N(cr). Our results support the possibility to observe quantized vortices in helium droplets by means of spectroscopic techniques.     

Quantitative theory of thermal fluctuations and disorder in the vortex matter

A metastable supercooled homogeneous vortex liquid state exists down to zero fluctuation temperature in systems of mutually repelling objects. The zero temperature liquid state therefore serves as a (pseudo) ‘fixed point’ controlling the properties of vortex liquid below and even around the melting point. Based on this picture, a quantitative theory of vortex melting and glass transition in Type II superconductors in the framework of Ginzburg-Landau approach is presented. The melting line location is determined and magnetization and specific heat jumps are calculated. The point-like disorder shifts the line downwards and joins the order-disorder transition line. On the other hand, the disorder induces irreversible effects via replica symmetry breaking. The irreversibility line can be calculated within the Gaussian variational method. Therefore, the generic phase diagram contains four phases divided by the irreversibility line and melting line: liquid, solid, vortex glass and Bragg glass. We compare various experimental results with the theoretical formula.     

Turbulence in boundary flow of superfluid 4He triggered by free vortex rings

The transition to turbulence in the boundary flow of superfluid 4He is investigated using a vortex-free vibrating wire. At high wire vibration velocities, we found that stable alternating flow around the wire enters a turbulent phase triggered by free vortex rings. Numerical simulations of vortex dynamics demonstrate that vortex rings can attach to the surface of an oscillating obstacle and expand unstably due to the boundary flow of the superfluid, forming turbulence. Experimental investigations indicate that the turbulent phase continues even after stopping the injection of vortex rings, which is also confirmed by the simulations.     

Interaction of negative ions with the surface of inert liquids

The interaction potential of negative ions (electron bubbles) with the surface of liquid ⁴He, ³He, and Ne has been found. In addition to the electrostatic repulsion, the contribution of the long-range Van der Waals attraction of the electron bubble to the liquid surface has been also taken into account. Competition of these repulsion and attraction forces results in the formation of a potential barrier that prevents the motion of a negative ion from the liquid to the vacuum. The temperature and electric-field dependences of the lifetime of the bubble have been determined. The theory has been compared with the experiments with negative ions in liquid ⁴He. In contrast to the conventional idea based on the hypothesis of the quantum tunneling of an electron from a bubble to a vacuum, our theory is based on the Kramers’ diffusion model of the classical escape of the bubble over the potential barrier. In this model, a low-dynamic-friction approximation is applicable to liquid ⁴He owing to a high mobility of negative ions in the superfluid.     

Surface fluctuations of normal and superfluid 3He probed by Wigner solid dynamics

Electron scattering from surface fluctuations on normal and superfluid 3He has been measured by its effect on the linewidth of the low-wave-vector transverse magnetophonon mode of the electron crystal (the Wigner solid) floating on the helium surface. The relaxation rate becomes anomalously low below 70 mK, and reaches a plateau at about 3 times less than its expected value before dropping further at the superfluid transition. The absence of such anomalous behavior on 4He suggests that the effect is specific to liquid 3He.     

Delocalization in two-dimensional disordered Bose systems and depinning transition in the vortex state in superconductors

We investigate a two-dimensional (2D) Bose system with the long range interactions in the presence of disorder. Formation of the bound states at strong impurity sites gives rise to a depletion of the superfluid density. We predict the intermediate superfluid state where the condensate and localized bosons are present simultaneously. We find that interactions suppress localization and that with the increase of the boson density the system experiences a sharp delocalization crossover into a state where all bosons are delocalized. We map our results onto a 3D system of vortices in type II superconductors in the presence of columnar defects; the intermediate superfluid state maps to an intermediate vortex liquid where vortex liquid neighbors pinned vortices. We predict the depinning crossover within the vortex liquid and depinning induced vortex lattice-Bose glass melting.     

Features of the effect of the Josephson medium parameters on vortex formation and critical current

The response of an intergranular Josephson junction to displacements of an Abrikosov vortex in a superconducting polycrystal is studied theoretically. The vortex filament in the vicinity of the junction excites a tunnel current in the junction and also generates a Josephson vortex with which it merges upon emergence at the surface of the junction. It is shown that the process of the Josephson vortex formation passes through a stage of overcoming a potential barrier, whose height depends on the distance between the Abrikosov vortex and the junction, as well as on the effective thickness of the junction, which is determined by the characteristic grain size, grain anisotropy, and the intensity of the intergranular coupling. The magnetic field dependence of the critical current of the intergranular Josephson junction is determined for various grain and intergranular parameters, as well as for the triangular and square configurations of the Abrikosov vortex lattice. The results indicate that a high degree of texturing in the grain size, anisotropy, and intensity of intergranular coupling is very important for obtaining high critical currents in pure polycrystalline materials.     

Vortex arrays of coexisting singly and doubly quantized vortex lines in<Superscript>3</Superscript>He-A

In superfluid³He-A singly and doubly quantized vortex lines can coexist in a rotating container. We measure with NMR techniques the radial distribution of the two vortex types in an array of vortex lines. The radial composition is found to depend on the procedure by which the array has been formed. The result shows that in superfluid³He the energy barriers separating different configurations of the vortex array are inpenetrably high for a metastable state to relax.     

Dynamics of a superfluid vortex and the Magnus force

We study the dynamics of a vortex in superfluid He4. This is carried out by deriving the effective Lagrangian for the center of the vortex by starting with the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau formalism. From the resultant equation of motion for a vortex, we arrive at a novel aspect for the Magnus force which has long been known in fluid dynamics. This force has a geometric origin and is expected to occur in other form of condensates such as vortex excitations for quantum Hall fluids or ferromagnets. We also consider the force of non geometric origin, the pinning force coming from the impurity.     

Distribution of Excited Atoms and Ions in a Plasma Generated at the Surface of Ferroelectric Ceramic

The distribution of excited atoms and ions in a plasma generated at the surface of ferroelectric ceramic has been studied. For all studied spectral lines of He I, Ar I, Ar II and hydrogen a decrease of the total line intensity with the increasing distance from the ceramic surface has been found. The shapes of these distributions are characteristic of the specific spectral lines. The distributions for He I lines depend strong on the concentration of argon in the helium — argon mixture. The effect of overpopulation of some excited Ar II ion levels in an argon discharge observed already in a previous work has been found also in the case of a helium — argon plasma.