Density pattern in supercritical flow of liquid He-4
Other Condensed Matter
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
A density functional theory is used to investigate the instability arising in superfluid He as it flows at velocity u just above the Landau critical velocity of rotons v_c. Confirming an early theoretical prediction by one of us [JETP Lett. 39, 511 (1984)], we find that a stationary periodic modulation of the density occurs, with amplitude proportional to (u-v_c)^{1/2} and wave vector equal to the roton wave vector. This density pattern is studied for supercritical flow both in bulk helium and in a channel of nanometer cross-section.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0412137,
title = {Density pattern in supercritical flow of liquid He-4},
author = {F. Ancilotto and F. Dalfovo and L. P. Pitaevskii and F. Toigo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0412137},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B