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Title: Particle tracking velocimetry applied to thermal counterflow in superfluid He 4 : Motion of the normal fluid at small heat fluxes

Abstract

This paper is concerned with thermal counterflow in superfluid 4He, particularly with the motion of the normal component at small heat fluxes when this motion is believed to be laminar. Recent experiments in which this motion is traced with micron-sized particles of solid deuterium show that the motion is not spatially uniform on a scale of order the spacing of the quantized vortex lines in the superfluid component. It is argued that this lack of uniformity has its origin in the fact that the force of mutual friction, which limits the thermal conductivity, is concentrated near the cores of the vortex lines. Possible effects of this concentration of force are discussed, and it is concluded that the experimental observations can be explained only if the vortex lines are arranged randomly in space, so that the observed lack of uniformity in the normal-fluid velocity can be regarded as being due partly to spatial variations in the vortex line density. Furthermore, problems remain, in that the form of the observed velocity correlation function has still to be understood.

Authors:
 [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2]
  1. National High Magnetic Field Lab., Tallahassee, FL (United States); Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  2. Univ. of Birmingham, Birmingham (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National High Magnetic Field Lab., Tallahassee, FL (United States); Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Contributing Org.:
Dr. W.F. Vinen from University of Birmingham
OSTI Identifier:
1558801
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1559073
Report Number(s):
DOE-FSU-20113
Journal ID: ISSN 2469-990X; TRN: US2000252
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0020113
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Fluids
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-990X
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; superfluid heliu; flow visualization; particle tracking velocimetry; thermal counterflow; quantized vortices

Citation Formats

Mastracci, Brian, Bao, Shiran, Guo, Wei, and Vinen, William Frank. Particle tracking velocimetry applied to thermal counterflow in superfluid He4: Motion of the normal fluid at small heat fluxes. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.083305.
Mastracci, Brian, Bao, Shiran, Guo, Wei, & Vinen, William Frank. Particle tracking velocimetry applied to thermal counterflow in superfluid He4: Motion of the normal fluid at small heat fluxes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.083305
Mastracci, Brian, Bao, Shiran, Guo, Wei, and Vinen, William Frank. Tue . "Particle tracking velocimetry applied to thermal counterflow in superfluid He4: Motion of the normal fluid at small heat fluxes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.083305. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1558801.
@article{osti_1558801,
title = {Particle tracking velocimetry applied to thermal counterflow in superfluid He4: Motion of the normal fluid at small heat fluxes},
author = {Mastracci, Brian and Bao, Shiran and Guo, Wei and Vinen, William Frank},
abstractNote = {This paper is concerned with thermal counterflow in superfluid 4He, particularly with the motion of the normal component at small heat fluxes when this motion is believed to be laminar. Recent experiments in which this motion is traced with micron-sized particles of solid deuterium show that the motion is not spatially uniform on a scale of order the spacing of the quantized vortex lines in the superfluid component. It is argued that this lack of uniformity has its origin in the fact that the force of mutual friction, which limits the thermal conductivity, is concentrated near the cores of the vortex lines. Possible effects of this concentration of force are discussed, and it is concluded that the experimental observations can be explained only if the vortex lines are arranged randomly in space, so that the observed lack of uniformity in the normal-fluid velocity can be regarded as being due partly to spatial variations in the vortex line density. Furthermore, problems remain, in that the form of the observed velocity correlation function has still to be understood.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.083305},
journal = {Physical Review Fluids},
number = 8,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Aug 27 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Aug 27 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

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Cited by: 13 works
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