Flow Phase Diagram for the Helium Superfluids

The flow phase diagram for He II and $^3$He-B is established and discussed based on available experimental data and the theory of Volovik [JETP Letters {\bf{78}} (2003) 553]. The effective temperature - dependent but scale - independent Reynolds number $Re_{eff}=1/q=(1+\alpha')/\alpha$, where $\alpha$ and $\alpha'$ are the mutual friction parameters and the superfluid Reynolds number characterizing the circulation of the superfluid component in units of the circulation quantum are used as the dynamic parameters. In particular, the flow diagram allows identification of experimentally observed turbulent states I and II in counterflowing He II with the turbulent regimes suggested by Volovik.Comment: 2 figure

Diffusion of Inhomogeneous Vortex Tangle and Decay of Superfluid Turbulence

The theory describing the evolution of inhomogeneous vortex tangle at zero temperature is developed on the bases of kinetics of merging and splitting vortex loops. Vortex loops composing the vortex tangle can move as a whole with some drift velocity depending on their structure and their length. The flux of length, energy, momentum etc. executed by the moving vortex loops takes a place. Situation here is exactly the same as in usual classical kinetic theory with the difference that the "carriers" of various physical quantities are not the point particles, but extended objects (vortex loops), which possess an infinite number of degrees of freedom with very involved dynamics. We offer to fulfill investigation basing on supposition that vortex loops have a Brownian structure with the only degree of freedom, namely, lengths of loops $l$. This conception allows us to study dynamics of the vortex tangle on the basis of the kinetic equation for the distribution function $n(l,t)$ of the density of a loop in the space of their lengths. Imposing the coordinate dependence on the distribution function n(l,\mathbf{% r},t) and modifying the "kinetic" equation with regard to inhomogeneous situation, we are able to investigate various problem on the transport processes in superfluid turbulence. In this paper we derive relation for the flux of the vortex line density $\mathcal{L}(x,t)$. The correspoding evolution of quantity $\mathcal{L}(x,t)$ obeys the diffusion type equation as it can be expected from dimensional analysis. The according diffusion coefficient is evaluated from calculation of the (size dependent) free path of the vortex loops. We use this equation to describe the decay of the vortex tangle at very low temperature. We compare that solution with recent experiments on decay of the superfluid turbulence.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Vibrating grid as a tool for studying the flow of pure He II and its transition to turbulence

We report a detailed experimental study of the flow of isotopically-pure He II, generated by a vibrating grid. Our measurements span a wide range of temperatures (50 mK < T < 1.37 K) and pressures (2 bar < p < 15 bar). The response of the grid was found to be of a Lorentzian form up to a sharply-defined threshold value. This threshold value does not change appreciably with pressure; the form of the resonant response of the grid is qualitatively the same for all temperatures while the threshold value is a monotonically increasing function of temperature. We discuss the measured variation of the resonant frequency of the grid as a function of applied pressure (density) of He II and relate this to a hydrodynamic effective mass of the grid. These measurements extend our previously reported studies [Nichol et al, Phys. Rev. E 70, 056307 (2004)] and form an integral part of a series of experiments aimed at providing a better understanding of classical and quantum turbulence

Thermal counterflow in a periodic channel with solid boundaries

We perform numerical simulations of finite temperature quantum turbulence produced through thermal counterflow in superfluid 4He, using the vortex filament model. We investigate the effects of solid boundaries along one of the Cartesian directions, assuming a laminar normal fluid with a Poiseuille velocity profile, whilst varying the temperature and the normal fluid velocity. We analyze the distribution of the quantized vortices, reconnection rates, and quantized vorticity production as a function of the wall-normal direction. We find that the quantized vortex lines tend to concentrate close to the solid boundaries with their position depending only on temperature and not on the counterflow velocity. We offer an explanation of this phenomenon by considering the balance of two competing effects, namely the rate of turbulent diffusion of an isotropic tangle near the boundaries and the rate of quantized vorticity production at the center. Moreover, this yields the observed scaling of the position of the peak vortex line density with the mutual friction parameter. Finally, we provide evidence that upon the transition from laminar to turbulent normal fluid flow, there is a dramatic increase in the homogeneity of the tangle, which could be used as an indirect measure of the transition to turbulence in the normal fluid component for experiments

Kinetics of a Network of Vortex Loops in He II and a Theory of Superfluid Turbulence

A theory is developed to describe the superfluid turbulence on the base of kinetics of the merging and splitting vortex loops. Because of very frequent reconnections the vortex loops (as a whole) do not live long enough to perform any essential evolution due to the deterministic motion. On the contrary, they rapidly merge and split, and these random recombination processes prevail over other slower dynamic processes. To develop quantitative description we take the vortex loops to have a Brownian structure with the only degree of freedom, which is the length $l$ of the loop. We perform investigation on the base of the Boltzmann type kinetic equation for the distribution function $n(l)$ of number of loops with length $l$. By use of the special ansatz in the collision integral we have found the exact power-like solution to kinetic equation in the stationary case. This solution is not (thermodynamically) equilibrium, but on the contrary, it describes the state with two mutual fluxes of the length (or energy) in space of sizes of the vortex loops. The term flux means just redistribution of length (or energy) among the loops of different sizes due to reconnections. Analyzing this solution we drew several results on the structure and dynamics of the vortex tangle in the turbulent superfluid helium. In particular, we evaluated the mean radius of the curvature and the full rate of the reconnection events. We also studied the evolution of the full length of vortex loops per unit volume-the so-called vortex line density. It is shown this evolution to obey the famous Vinen equation. The properties of the Vinen equation from the point of view of the developed approach had been discussed.Comment: 34 pages, 9 Postscript figures, [aps,preprint,12pt]{revtex4

Decay of Counterflow Quantum Turbulence in Superfluid ^4He

We have simulated the decay of thermal counterflow quantum turbulence from a statistically steady state at T=1.9[K], with the assumption that the normal fluid is at rest during the decay. The results are consistent with the predictions of the Vinen equation (in essence the vortex line density (VLD) decays as t^{-1}). For the statistically steady state, we determine the parameter c_2, which connects the curvature of the vortex lines and the mean separation of vortices. A formula connecting the parameter \chi_2 of the Vinen equation with c_2 is shown to agree with the results of the simulations. Disagreement with experiment is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

FASA Fire Airborne Spectral Analysis of natural disasters

At present the authors are developing the system FASA, an airborne combination of a Fourier Transform Spectrometer and an imaging system. The aim is to provide a system that is usable to investigate and monitor emissions from natural disasters such as wild fires and from volcanoes. Besides temperatures and (burned) areas FASA will also provide concentration profiles of the gaseous combustion products. These data are needed to improve the knowledge of the effects of such emissions on the global ecosystem. The paper presents a description of the instrumentation, the data evaluation procedure and shows first results of retrieval calculations based on simulated spectra

Quantum Turbulence

The present article reviews the recent developments in the physics of quantum turbulence. Quantum turbulence (QT) was discovered in superfluid $^4$He in the 1950s, and the research has tended toward a new direction since the mid 90s. The similarities and differences between quantum and classical turbulence have become an important area of research. QT is comprised of quantized vortices that are definite topological defects, being expected to yield a model of turbulence that is much simpler than the classical model. The general introduction of the issue and a brief review on classical turbulence are followed by a description of the dynamics of quantized vortices. Then, we discuss the energy spectrum of QT at very low temperatures. At low wavenumbers, the energy is transferred through the Richardson cascade of quantized vortices, and the spectrum obeys the Kolmogorov law, which is the most important statistical law in turbulence; this classical region shows the similarity to conventional turbulence. At higher wavenumbers, the energy is transferred by the Kelvin-wave cascade on each vortex. This quantum regime depends strongly on the nature of each quantized vortex. The possible dissipation mechanism is discussed. Finally, important new experimental studies, which include investigations into temperature-dependent transition to QT, dissipation at very low temperatures, QT created by vibrating structures, and visualization of QT, are reviewed. The present article concludes with a brief look at QT in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, Review article to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Reconnection dynamics and mutual friction in quantum turbulence

We investigate the behaviour of the mutual friction force in finite temperature quantum turbulence in 4He, paying particular attention to the role of quantized vortex reconnections. Through the use of the vortex filament model, we produce three experimentally relevant types of vortex tangles in steady-state conditions, and examine through statistical analysis, how local properties of the tangle influence the mutual friction force. Finally, by monitoring reconnection events, we present evidence to indicate that vortex reconnections are the dominant mechanism for producing areas of high curvature and velocity leading to regions of high mutual friction, particularly for homogeneous and isotropic vortex tangles