Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Measuring the decay of vorticity in superfluid ...

Keywords

View graph of relations

Measuring the decay of vorticity in superfluid He-3-B: a progress report

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>12/1998
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Issue number5-6
Volume113
Number of pages6
Pages (from-to)687-692
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English
EventInternational Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids (QFS98) - AMHERST
Duration: 9/06/199814/06/1998

Conference

ConferenceInternational Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids (QFS98)
CityAMHERST
Period9/06/9814/06/98

Abstract

Recent measurements in superfluid He-3-B have been interpreted as evidence in support of the Kibble-Zurek hypothesis for the formation of defects in the early Universe. The superfluid He-3 analogue to the cosmic string is the quantum vortex:. We report here the preliminary attempts to detect the heat evolution from the decay of this vorticity in superfluid He-3-B at temperatures down to similar to 110 mu K. We produce vorticity by neutron irradiation of a small superfluid He-3-B sample and attempt to measure the heat released as the vorticity decays. We detect a long time scale heart release and find that the lifetime of this decay varies inversely proportional to the quasiparticle excitation number density in the superfluid. However, we have yet to be convinced that this heat is from the decay of vorticity.