Defect Formation in Quench-Cooled Superfluid Phase Transition

We use neutron absorption in rotating 3He-B to heat locally a 10 micrometer-size volume into normal phase. When the heated region cools back in microseconds, vortex lines are formed. We record with NMR the number of lines as a function of superflow velocity and compare to the Kibble-Zurek theory of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 1997-06
Main Authors: Ruutu, V M, Eltsov, V B, Krusius, M, Makhlin, Yu G, Placais, B, Volovik, G E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Fluids
Neutron absorption
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Phase transitions
Size distribution
Superfluidity
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We use neutron absorption in rotating 3He-B to heat locally a 10 micrometer-size volume into normal phase. When the heated region cools back in microseconds, vortex lines are formed. We record with NMR the number of lines as a function of superflow velocity and compare to the Kibble-Zurek theory of vortex-loop freeze-out from a random network of defects. The measurements confirm the calculated loop-size distribution and show that also the superfluid state itself forms as a patchwork of competing A and B phase blobs. This explains the A to B transition in supercooled neutron-irradiated 3He-A.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.9706038