Coreless vortices in superfluid /sup 3/He-A:Topological structure, nucleation, and the screening effect

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Phys. Rev., B; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.18.1144· OSTI ID:6681388

Ho, T

Two simple relations connecting the superfluid circulation around any contour C enclosing a simply connected surface ..sigma.. and the texture in ..sigma.. are established. They are applied to discuss the topological structures and the nucleation of coreless vortices in superfluid /sup 3/He-A. It is shown that the latter is a very different phenomenon from the nucleation of singular vortices. A vortex ring of finite size, or a pair of antiparallel vortex lines separated by a finite distance, can be formed continuously out of a uniform order parameter. Their activation energy is connected intimately with the stability of superflow recently discussed. It vanishes near T = 0 but happens to be nonzero near T/sub c/. It is also suggested that at any temperature T < T/sub c/ the absolute minimum of the free energy of /sup 3/He-A in a container with a large surface circulation is given by a configuration with many coreless vortices confined in a tiny surface layer, so that in the bulk, the order parameter is a constant. This ''screening effect,'' which affects strongly the amount of angular momentum carried by the fluid, is a special property of /sup 3/He-A.

• Research Organization: Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801
• OSTI ID: 6681388
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev., B; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev., B; (United States) Vol. 18:3; ISSN PLRBA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640450* -- Fluid Physics-- Superfluidity
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CRITICAL TEMPERATURE
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HELIUM 3
HELIUM 3 A
HELIUM ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATHEMATICS
NUCLEATION
NUCLEI
ORDER PARAMETERS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
STABLE ISOTOPES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TOPOLOGY
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
VORTICES