Microsolvation of phthalocyanines in superfluid helium droplets.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of the spectroscopy of molecules in superfluid helium droplets provide evidence for the key role of the first helium layer surrounding the dopant molecule in determining the molecule's spectroscopic features. Recent investigations of emission spectra of phthalocyanine in helium droplets revealed a doubling of all transitions. Herein, we present the emission spectra of Mg-phthalocyanine and of phthalocyanine-argon clusters in helium droplets, which confirm the splitting as a general effect of the helium environment. A scheme of levels is deduced from the emission spectra and attributed to quantized states of the first helium layer surrounding the dopant molecule.     

Spherically compressed helium atom described by perturbative and variational methods

We analyze the energy spectrum of the three lowest-lying S symmetry states for the spherically confined helium atom as a function of the box radius by using an approach based on a time independent perturbation theory and two variational methods. The first treatment depends on exact solutions for confined one-electron atoms, whereas in the latter two methods exponents and linear coefficients are variationally optimized via {s,t,u}-Hylleraas functions and Generalized {r₁,r₂,r₁₂}-Hylleraas basis sets that fulfill appropriate boundary conditions. Although it is found that throughout most of the box radii here analyzed the variational energies for the three states lie below those perturbatively obtained, an opposite trend occurs toward the weak and strong confinement regions for the singlet excited and triplet states, respectively.     

Experiments with solid He

The possibility of supersolid behavior in ⁴He was predicted many years ago, but negative experiments in the 1970’s removed motivation for further experimental efforts to explore the possibility until the work of Goodkind’s group renewed attention. Kim and Chan found unambiguous evidence for a period shift in a torsional oscillator filled with solid ⁴He and this observation and its interpretation have created substantial interest in the study of solid ⁴He. Here, recent work with an experimental design that allows for superfluid ⁴He to be in direct contact with solid ⁴He off the melting curve will be discussed and evidence for the flow of helium atoms through a cell filled with solid ⁴He, caused by an applied chemical potential difference will be briefly reviewed.     

AN APPROXIMATION OF THE KINETIC ENERGY OF A SUPERFLUID FILM ON A RIEMANN SURFACE

The flow of a superfluid film adsorbed on a porous medium can be modeled by a meromorphic differential on a Riemann surface of high genus. In this paper, we define the mixed Hodge metric of meromorphic differentials on a Riemann surface and justify using this metric to approximate the kinetic energy of a superfluid film flowing on a porous surface.