Ring vortex destabilization in supersaturated 3He-4He liquid mixtures at low temperatures

Particles are a widespread tool for obtaining information from fluid flows. When Eulerian data are unavailable, they may be employed to estimate flow fields or to identify coherent flow structures. Here we numerically examine the possibility of using particles to capture the dynamics of isolated vortex rings propagating in a quiescent fluid. The analysis is performed starting from numerical simulations of the Navier--Stokes and the Hall--Vinen--Bekarevich--Khalatnikov equatio...

In the light of recent difficulties in observing vortices in quenches of liquid helium 4 to its superfluid state we re-examine the Zurek scenario for their production. We argue that experiments in helium 4 are unlikely to produce true vortices in the numbers originally anticipated, if at all, because of the wide Ginzberg regime and the slowness of the mechanical quenches. On the other hand, the observed production of unambiguous vortices in neutron-bombarded helium 3, with it...

In the light of recent difficulties in observing vortices in quenches of liquid $^{4}$He to its superfluid state we re-examine the Zurek scenario for their production. We find that the standard prediction is suspect because of a confusion over correlation lengths.

We report the observation of vortex formation upon the absorption of a thermal neutron in a rotating container of superfluid $^3$He-B. The nuclear reaction n + $^3$He = p + $^3$H + 0.76MeV heats a cigar shaped region of the superfluid into the normal phase. The subsequent cooling of this region back through the superfluid transition results in the nucleation of quantized vortices. Depending on the superflow velocity, sufficiently large vortex rings grow under the influence of...

Vortex flow remains laminar up to large Reynolds numbers (Re~1000) in a cylinder filled with 3He-B. This is inferred from NMR measurements and numerical vortex filament calculations where we study the spin up and spin down responses of the superfluid component, after a sudden change in rotation velocity. In normal fluids and in superfluid 4He these responses are turbulent. In 3He-B the vortex core radius is much larger which reduces both surface pinning and vortex reconnectio...

In low-temperature superfluid helium, viscosity is zero, and vorticity takes the form of discrete, vortex filaments of fixed circulation and atomic thickness. We present numerical evidence of three-dimensional inverse energy transfer from small length scales to large length scales in superfluid turbulence generated by a flow of vortex rings. We argue that the effect arises from the anisotropy of the flow, which favours vortex reconnections of vortex loops of the same polarity...

We present an explanation of why the observed supersolid fractions of helium solids are rather far below unity. One might observe large supersolid fraction of neon systems immersing in liquid $^3$He. A system of bosonic ions in a ring trap could display a supersolid fraction close to unity.

A profound change occurs in the stability of quantized vortices in externally applied flow of superfluid 3He-B at temperatures ~ 0.6 Tc, owing to the rapidly decreasing damping in vortex motion with decreasing temperature. At low damping an evolving vortex may become unstable and generate a new independent vortex loop. This single-vortex instability is the generic precursor to turbulence. We investigate the instability with non-invasive NMR measurements on a rotating cylindri...

Turbulence in superfluids depends crucially on the dissipative damping in vortex motion. This is observed in the B phase of superfluid 3He where the dynamics of quantized vortices changes radically in character as a function of temperature. An abrupt transition to turbulence is the most peculiar consequence. As distinct from viscous hydrodynamics, this transition to turbulence is not governed by the velocity-dependent Reynolds number, but by a velocity-independent dimensionle...

New techniques, both for generating and detecting turbulence in the helium superfluids 3He-B and 4He, have recently given insight in how turbulence is started, what the dissipation mechanisms are, and how turbulence decays when it appears as a transient state or when externally applied turbulent pumping is switched off. Important simplifications are obtained by using 3He-B as working fluid, where the highly viscous normal component is practically always in a state of laminar ...