Turbulent drag on a low-frequency vibrating grid in superfluid He-4 at very low temperatures

We present measurements of the dissipative turbulent drag on a vibrating grid in superfluid He-4 over a wide range of (low) frequencies. At high velocities, the dissipative drag is independent of frequency and is approximately the same as that measured in normal liquid He-4. We present measurements on a similar grid in superfluid He-3-B at low temperatures which shows an almost identical turbulent drag coefficient at low frequencies. However, the turbulent drag in He-3-B is substantially higher at higher frequencies. We also present measurements of the inertial drag coefficient for grid turbulence in He-4. The inertial drag coefficient is significantly reduced by turbulence in both superfluid and normal liquid He-4

Superconducting Nb-film LC resonator

Sputtered Nb thin-film LC resonators for low frequencies at 0.5 MHz have been fabricated and tested in the temperature range 0.05--1 K in magnetic fields up to 30 mT. Their Q value increases towards decreasing temperature as sqrt(T) and reaches 10^3 at 0.05 K. As a function of magnetic field Q is unstable and displays variations up to 50%, which are reproducible from one field sweep to the next. These instabilities are attributed to dielectric losses in the plasma deposited SiO_2 insulation layer, since the thin-film coil alone reaches a Q > 10^5 at 0.05 K.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Review of Scientific Instrument

Anomalous damping of a low frequency vibrating wire in superfluid He-3-B due to vortex shielding

We have investigated the behaviour of a large vibrating wire resonator in the B-phase of superfluid He-3 at zero pressure and at temperatures below 200 mu K. The vibrating wire has a low resonant frequency of around 60 Hz. At low velocities the motion of the wire is impeded by its intrinsic (vacuum) damping and by the scattering of thermal quasiparticle excitations. At higher velocities we would normally expect the motion to be further damped by the creation of quasiparticles from pair-breaking. However, for a range of temperatures, as we increase the driving force we observe a sudden decrease in the damping of the wire. This results from a reduction in the thermal damping arising from the presence of quantum vortex lines generated by the wire. These vortex lines Andreev-reflect low energy excitations and thus partially shield the wire from incident thermal quasiparticles

Stability of flow and the transition to turbulence around a quartz tuning fork in superfluid He-4 at very low temperatures

We have studied the transition between pure potential flow and turbulent flow around a quartz tuning fork resonator in superfluid He-4 at millikelvin temperatures. Turbulent flow is identified by an additional drag force on the fork prongs due to the creation of quantized vortices. When driven at a constant driving force amplitude, the transition to turbulence causes an abrupt decrease in the velocity amplitude of the prongs. For a range of driving forces, continuous switching is observed between the two flow states. We have made a statistical study of the switching characteristics and of the lifetimes of the unstable states. We find a characteristic velocity nu(star) which separates quasistable turbulent flow at higher velocities and quasistable potential flow at lower velocities. We show that the potential-to-turbulent flow transition is driven by random processes involving remanent vortices pinned to the prongs

Immunomodulation and T Helper TH1/TH2 Response Polarization by CeO2 and TiO2 Nanoparticles

Immunomodulation by nanoparticles, especially as related to the biochemical properties of these unique materials, has scarcely been explored. In an in vitro model of human immunity, we demonstrate two catalytic nanoparticles, TiO2 (oxidant) and CeO2 (antioxidant), have nearly opposite effects on human dendritic cells and T helper (T-H) cells. For example, whereas TiO2 nanoparticles potentiated DC maturation that led towards T(H)1-biased responses, treatment with antioxidant CeO2 nanoparticles induced APCs to secrete the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, and induce a T(H)2-dominated T cell profile. In subsequent studies, we demonstrate these results are likely explained by the disparate capacities of the nanoparticles to modulate ROS, since TiO2, but not CeO2 NPs, induced inflammatory responses through an ROS/inflammasome/IL-1 beta pathway. This novel capacity of metallic NPs to regulate innate and adaptive immunity in profoundly different directions via their ability to modulate dendritic cell function has strong implications for human health since unintentional exposure to these materials is common in modern societies

Quasiparticle transport in a two-dimensional boundary superfluid

The B phase of superfluid 3He can be cooled into the "pure" superfluid regime, characterised by negligible thermal quasiparticle density. Here, the bulk superfluid is bounded by a two-dimensional quantum well at the boundaries of the container, where creating quasiparticles requires much less energy. In this Article, we carry out experiments where we create a non-equilibrium state within the quantum well and show that the induced quasiparticle currents flow diffusively in the two-dimensional system. We conclude that the bulk of superfluid 3He is wrapped by an independent two-dimensional superfluid that interacts with mechanical probes instead of the bulk superfluid, only providing access to the bulk superfluid if given a sudden burst of energy. That is, superfluid 3He at the lowest temperatures and applied energies is thermo-mechanically two dimensional. Our work opens this two-dimensional quantum condensate and the interface it forms between the observer and the bulk superfluid for exploration, and provides the possibility of creating two-dimensional condensates of arbitrary topology.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Vortex lines or sheets - what is formed in dynamic drives?

In isotropic macroscopic quantum systems vortex lines can be formed while in anisotropic systems also vortex sheets are possible. Based on measurements of superfluid 3He-A, we present the principles which select between these two competing forms of quantized vorticity: sheets displace lines if the frequency of the external field exceeds a critical limit. The resulting topologically stable state consists of multiple vortex sheets and has much faster dynamics than the state with vortex lines.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, sumbitted to Phys. Rev. Let