Search results for "Helium-4"

Observation of a superfluid component within solid helium.

2011

We demonstrate by neutron scattering that a localized superfluid component exists at high pressures within solid helium in aerogel. Its existence is deduced from the observation of two sharp phonon-roton spectra which are clearly distinguishable from modes in bulk superfluid helium. These roton excitations exhibit different roton gap parameters than the roton observed in the bulk fluid at freezing pressure. One of the roton modes disappears after annealing the samples. Comparison with theoretical calculations suggests that the model that reproduces the observed data best is that of superfluid double layers within the solid and at the helium-substrate interface.

2021

Previously, rotons were observed in correlated quantum systems at low temperatures, including superfluid helium and Bose-Einstein condensates. Here, following a recent theoretical proposal, we repo...

Thermodynamics of computation and linear stability limits of superfluid refrigeration of a model computing array

2019

We analyze the stability of the temperature profile of an array of computing nanodevices refrigerated by flowing superfluid helium, under variations in temperature, computing rate, and barycentric velocity of helium. It turns out that if the variation in dissipated energy per bit with respect to temperature variations is higher than some critical values, proportional to the effective thermal conductivity of the array, then the steady-state temperature profiles become unstable and refrigeration efficiency is lost. Furthermore, a restriction on the maximum rate of variation in the local computation rate is found.

Thermal nucleation of cavities in liquid helium at negative pressures

1993

We have investigated the nucleation rate at which cavities are formed in $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ and $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ at negative pressures due to thermal fluctuations. To this end, we have used a density functional that reproduces the He liquid-gas interface along the coexistence line. The inclusion of thermal effects in the calculation of the barrier against nucleation results in a sizable decrease of the absolute value of the tensile strength above 1.5 K.

Structure and energetics of mixed4He-3He drops

1997

Using a finite-range density functional, we have investigated the energetics and structural features of mixed helium clusters. The possibility of doping the cluster with a molecule of sulfur hexafluoride is also considered. It is seen that the repulsion introduced by the impurity strongly modifies the properties of the smallest drops. Although only a qualitative comparison is possible, the gross features displayed by our calculations are in agreement with recent experimental findings. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

Production of zero energy radioactive beams through extraction across superfluid helium surface

2003

A radioactive Ra-223 source was immersed in superfluid helium at 1.2-1.7 K. Electric fields transported recoiled Rn-219 ions in the form of snowballs to the surface and further extracted them across the surface. The ions were focussed onto an aluminium foil and alpha particle spectra were taken with a surface barrier spectrometer. This enabled us to determine the efficiency for each process unambiguously. The pulsed second sound wave proved effective in enhancing the extraction of positive ions from the surface. Thus we offer a novel method for study of impurities in superfluid helium and propose this method for production of zero energy nuclear beams for use at radioactive ion beam facilit…

Extraction of radioactive positive ions across the surface of superfluid helium: A new method to produce cold radioactive nuclear beams

2003

Alpha-decay recoils 219Rn were stopped in superfluid helium and positive ions were extracted by electric field into the vapour phase. This first quantitative observation of extraction was successfully conducted using highly sensitive radioactivity detection. The efficiency for extraction across the liquid surface was 23 ± 4% at 1.60 K, the release time was 90 ± 10 ms at 1.50 K and the barrier for positive ions through a free superfluid-helium surface was 19.4 ± 4.5 K. The pulsed second sound proved to be effective in enhancing the extraction.

Efficient numerical method for simulating static and dynamic properties of superfluid helium

2004

Density functional theory (DFT) offers computationally affordable way of describing static and dynamic properties of superfluid 4He. In general, the DFT models yield single particle-like Schrodinger equations with a nonlinear potential term that accounts for all the many-body interactions. The resulting equations can be solved for small amplitude plane wave excitations in the bulk whereas fully numerical solution must be sought in more complicated cases. In this paper we propose a numerical method that can be used in solving the time-dependent nonlinear Schrodinger equation in both real and imaginary times. The method is based on operator splitting technique where each component operator is…

Excitation spectra of aHe3impurity onHe4clusters

2004

The diffusion Monte Carlo technique is used to calculate and analyze the excitation spectrum of a single $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ atom bound to a cluster with $N$ $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ atoms, with the aim of establishing the most adequate filling ordering of single-fermion orbits to the mixed clusters with a large number of $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ atoms. The resulting ordering looks like the rotational spectrum of a diatomic molecule, being classified only by the angular momentum of the level, although vibrational-like excitations appear at higher energies for sufficiently large $N$.

Alternative Vinen equation and its extension to rotating counterflow superfluid turbulence

2007

Two alternative Vinen's evolution equations for the vortex line density L in counterflow superfluid turbulence, are physically admissible and lead to analogous results in steady states. In Phys. Rev. B, 69, 094513 (2004) the most used of them was generalized to counterflow superfluid turbulence in rotating containers. Here, the analogous generalization for the alternative Vinen's equation is proposed. Both generalized Vinen's equations are compared with the experimental results, not only in steady-states but also in some unsteady situations. From this analysis follows that the solutions of the alternative Vinen's equation tend significantly faster to the corresponding final steady state val…