Abstract

Phys. Rev. Lett 81 3703-3706 (1998).

Non-Appearance of Vortices in Fast Mechanical Expansions of Liquid ⁴He Through the Lambda Transition

M.E. Dodd, P.C. Hendry, N.S. Lawson, P.V.E. McClintock and

Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YB (UK).

C.D.H. Williams

Department of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL (UK).

A new experiment has been performed to study the formation of topological defects (quantized vortices) during rapid quenches of liquid ⁴He through the superfluid transition, with particular care taken to minimise vortex creation via conventional hydrodynamic flow processes. It is found that the generated vortices, if any, are being produced at densities at least two orders of magnitude less than might be expected on the basis of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.

Keywords: liquid helium, vortices, cosmic strings.
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