Related papers: Defect Formation in Quench-Cooled Superfluid Phase…
A convenient method to create vortices in meta-stable vortex-free superflow of 3He-B is to irradiate with thermal neutrons. The vortices are then formed in a rapid non-equilibrium process with very distinctive characteristics. Two models…
We report the observation of vortex formation upon the absorption of a thermal neutron in a rotating container of superfluid $^3$He-B. The nuclear reaction n + $^3$He = p + $^3$H + 0.76MeV heats a cigar shaped region of the superfluid into…
The status quo in our understanding of defect formation during a rapid transition into the broken symmetry state in condensed matter and cosmology is discussed. An observation of vortex nucleation in neutron absorption experiments in…
The formation and dynamics of topological defects of different structure has been of central interest in the study of the 3He superfluids. Compared to superfluid 4He-II, the variability of the important parameters with temperature and…
Spin-mass vortices have been observed to form in rotating superfluid 3He-B following the absorption of a thermal neutron and a rapid transition from the normal to superfluid state. The spin-mass vortex is a composite defect which consists…
In superfluid 3He-B mutual-friction damping of vortex-line motion decreases roughly exponentially with temperature. We record as a function of temperature and pressure the transition from regular vortex motion at high temperatures to…
The interior crust and much of the liquid core of neutron stars is believed to be a quantum liquid mixture of neutron and proton superfluids and a relativistic electron liquid. Quantized vortices in the neutron superfluid and quantized flux…
The flow of quantized vortex lines in superfluid 3He-B is laminar at high temperatures, but below 0.6 Tc turbulence becomes possible, owing to the rapidly decreasing mutual friction damping. In the turbulent regime a vortex evolving in…
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…
Symmetry breaking phase transitions from less to more ordered phases will typically produce topological defects in the ordered phase. Kibble-Zurek theory predicts that for any second-order phase transition, such as the early universe, the…
Steady-state turbulent motion is created in superfluid 3He-B at low temperatures in the form of a turbulent vortex front, which moves axially along a rotating cylindrical container of 3He-B and replaces vortex-free flow with vortex lines at…
At a very rapid superfluid transition in $^3$He, follows after a reaction with single neutron, the creation of topological defects (vortices) has recently been demonstrated in accordance with the Kibble-Zurek scenario for the cosmological…
In equilibrium, confined films of superfluid $^3$He-A have the chiral axis, $\hat{\ell}$, locked normal to the surface of the film. There are two degenerate ground states $\hat{\ell}\;||\pm\hat{z}$. However, for a temperature quench, i.e.…
Matter at low temperatures exhibits unusual properties such as superfluidity, superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensation, and supersolidity. These states display quantum mechanical behaviours at scales much larger than atomic dimensions.…
The experimental investigation of superfluid turbulence in 3He-B is generally not possible with the techniques which have been developed for 4He-II. We describe a new method by which a transient burst of turbulent vortex expansion can be…
A profound change occurs in the stability of quantized vortices in externally applied flow of superfluid 3He-B at temperatures ~ 0.6 Tc, owing to the rapidly decreasing damping in vortex motion with decreasing temperature. At low damping an…
A nuclear capture reaction of a single neutron by ultra-cold superfluid $^3$He results in a rapid overheating followed by the expansion and subsequent cooling of the hot subregion, in a certain analogy with the Big Bang of the early…
The dynamics of quantized vortices is studied in superfluid 3He-B after a rapid stop of rotation. We use Andreev reflection of thermal excitations to monitor vortex motion with quartz tuning fork oscillators in two different experimental…
Formation of topological defects during symmetry breaking phase transitions via the {\it Kibble mechanism} is extensively used in systems ranging from condensed matter physics to the early stages of the universe. Kibble mechanism uses…
We study the dynamic after a smooth quench across a continuous transition from the disordered phase to the ordered phase. Based on scaling ideas, linear response and the spectrum of unstable modes, we develop a theoretical framework, valid…