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Results for “SUPERFLUIDITY”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

The Geminga neutron star: Evidence for nucleon superfluidity at very high density

A comparison of the recent age and temperature estimates of the Geminga neutron star with cooling models is presented. This star is already in the photon cooling era and it is shown that its temperature can be understood within both the slow and fast neutrino emission scenarios and consequently will not allow discrimination between these two scenarios. However in both cases agreement of the theoretical cooling curves with the observed temperature depends crucially on the presence of nucleon pairing in most, if not all, of the core.

Page, Dany↗
NASA NTRS1994

Geminga: A cooling superfluid neutron star

We compare the recent temperature estimate for Geminga with neutron star cooling models. Because of its age (approximately 3.4 x 10(exp 5) yr), Geminga is in the photon cooling era. We show that its surface temperature (approximately 5.2 x 10(exp 5) K) can be understood by both types of neutrino cooling scenarios, i.e., slow neutrino cooling by the modified Urca process or fast neutrino cooling by the direct Urca process or by some exotic matter, and thus does not allow us to discriminate between these two competing schemes. However, for both types of scenarios, agreement with the observed temperature can only be obtained if baryon pairing is present in most, if not all, of the core of the star. Within the slow neutrino cooling scenario, early neutrino cooling is not sufficient to explain the observed low temperature, and extensive pairing in the core is necessary to reduce the specific heat and increase the cooling rate in the present photon cooling era. Within all the fast neutrino cooling scenarios, pairing is necessary throughout the whole core to control the enormous early neutrino emission which, without pairing suppression, would result in a surface temperature at the present time much lower than observed. We also comment on the recent temperature estimates for PSR 0656+14 and PSR 1055-52, which pertain to the same photon cooling era. If one assumes that all neutron stars undergo fast neutrino cooling, then these two objects also provide evidence for extensive baryon pairing in their core; but observational uncertainties also permit a more conservative interpretation, with slow neutrino emission and no pairing at all. We argue though that observational evidence for the slow neutrino cooling model (the 'standard' model) is in fact very dim and that the interpretation of the surface temperature of all neutron stars could be done with a reasonable theoretical a priori within the fast neutrino cooling scenarios only. In this case, Geminga, PSR 0656+14, and PSR 1055-52 all show evidence of baryon pairing down to their very centers.

Page, Dany↗
NASA NTRS1999

Measurements of Tc (Q,P): Depression of the Superfluid Transition Temperature by a Heat Current Along the Lambda Line

We report experimental measurements of Tc (Q,P) for heat currents (Q) between I1and 100 micro W/sq cm and pressure (P) between SVP and 15 bar. The measurements were performed in a normal gravity environment, using the low-gravity simulator facility at JPL without the magnet being energized. The sample pressure was controlled to 0.1 micro bar using a hot volume, and a Straty-Adams capacitive pressure gauge. The total volume of helium in the sample cell and the hot volume was held constant using a pneumatic low temperature valve. A melting curve thermometer (MCT) measured the transition temperature (Tc) with a resolution of about 10 nK through a sidewall probe of the thermal conductivity sample cell. We employed the same measurement technique and procedure described by DAS. Preliminary results indicate that Tc (Q,P) depends very little on the pressure in the pressure range between SVP and 15 bar with a variation in the amplitude of Tc(Q,P) of less than about 5% observable in this pressure range. According to the Renormalization-group theory calculation by Haussmann and Dohm, the amplitude of Tc (Q,P) has a leading pressure-dependence term proportional to xi(sub 0) (sup (1/nu)), where xi(sub 0) is the correlation-length amplitude and nu is the correlation-length exponent. Thus, a small pressure dependence of the amplitude of Tc (Q,P) is expected since xi(sub 0) is very weakly dependent on pressure between SVP and 15 bar, consistent with our measurements.

Liu, Yuan-Ming↗
NASA NTRS2003

New Propagating Mode near the Superfluid Transition in He-4

We have observed a new temperature-entropy wave that propagates opposite to the direction of a steady heat flux Q when the helium column is heated from above. This propagating mode is due to non-linear thermo-conductance of the helium sample in the self-organized state. Such a mode had been predicted to exist on the self-organized heat transport state for Q less than about 100 nW/sq cm. We confirm that this mode exists in this regime. However, we also observe that it propagates even when the helium is pushed away from the self-organized heat transport state into the normal state.

Sergatskov, Dmitri A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Method and apparatus for generating coherent radiation in the ultra-violet region and above by use of distributed feedback

Helium in the superfluid state emits copious amounts of radiation in the ultraviolet region when excited by an electron stream. Conventional laser action using mirrors is impossible in superfluid helium because there are no mirrors that will reflect VUV radiation. By utilizing the distributed feedback method, the superfluid helium can be made to lase. By setting up a standing wave in superfluid helium that has a wavelength equal to, or harmonically related to, half the wavelength of the photon radiation chosen to be emitted as laser radiation by the superfluid helium, the need for end mirrors to produce reflection of the laser radiation is eliminated and reflection occurs instead at the wavefronts of the standing wave. The photons leave the superfluid helium at right angles to the standing wave as coherent radiation having a very high intensity. The standing wave established in the superfluid helium may be an acoustical standing wave, a thermal standing wave (second sound), or an electric standing wave.

Saffren, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Pump performance requirement for the liquid helium orbital resupply tanker

The Liquid Helium Orbital Resupply Tanker (currently renamed to Superfluid Helium Tanker) will greatly enhance the lifetime of the space missions which require superfluid helium. The Superfluid Helium Tanker pump performance requirement is driven by the superfluid helium replenishment needs of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). SIRTF is one of the space missions which will require on-orbit superfluid helium resupply in the 1990s. The Superfluid Helium Tanker will carry at least 10,000 L of superfluid helium and provide a minimum pump head of 170 torr (0 to 200 L/h) to cool SIRTF from 150 to 2 K. When the SIRTF tank starts to collect liquid, a minimum flow rate of 300 L/h with a pump head of 60 torr is required to fill the 4000-liter tank.

Lee, J. H.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Rotating quantum turbulence in the unitary Fermi gas

Quantized vortices carry the angular momentum in rotating superfluids, and are key to the phenomenon of quantum turbulence. Advances in ultracold-atom technology enable quantum turbulence to be studied in regimes with both experimental and theoretical control, unlike the original contexts of superfluid helium experiments. While much work has been performed with bosonic systems, detailed studies of fermionic quantum turbulence are nascent, despite wide applicability to other contexts such as rotating neutron stars. In this paper, we present a large-scale study of quantum turbulence in rotating fermionic superfluids using an accurate time-dependent density functional theory called the superfluid local density approximation. We identify two different modes of turbulent decay in the dynamical equilibration of a rotating fermionic superfluid, and contrast these results with a computationally simpler description provided by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which we find can qualitatively reproduce these decay mechanisms if dissipation is explicitly included. These results demonstrate that dissipation mechanisms intrinsic to fermionic superfluids play a key role in differentiating fermionic from bosonic turbulence, which manifests by enhanced damping of Kelvin waves.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Half-quantum vortices in nematic and chiral phases of 3 He

In this work, we report theoretical results for the stability of half-quantum vortices (HQVs) in the superfluid phases of 3 He confined in highly anisotropic Nafen aerogel. Superfluidity of 3 He confined in Nafen is the realization of a “nematic superfluid” with Cooper pairs condensed into a single p -wave orbital aligned along the anisotropy axis of the Nafen aerogel. In addition to the nematic phase, we predict a second “chiral” phase that onsets at a lower transition temperature. This chiral phase spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry and is a topological superfluid. Both superfluid phases are equal-spin pairing condensates that host arrays of HQVs as equilibrium states of rotating superfluid 3 He. We present results for the structure of HQVs, including magnetic and topological signatures of HQVs in both the nematic and chiral phases of 3 He-Nafen.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effect of inversion asymmetry on the superconducting and exciton condensates of bilayer graphene

Inversion asymmetry in bilayer graphene can be tuned by the displacement field. As a result, the band dispersion in biased bilayer graphene acquires flatband regions near the Dirac points along with a nontrivial band geometry. We analyze the effect of inversion asymmetry on the critical temperature and superfluid stiffness of the superconducting state of AB-stacked graphene bilayer and the exciton condensate in double layers formed by two AB-stacked graphene bilayers. We find that the geometric superfluid stiffness in bilayer graphene superconductors is negligible due to the small superconducting gap. Furthermore, since the geometric superfluid stiffness is maximized for a constant order parameter, it can be neglected in biased bilayer graphene superconductors with any pairing symmetry. In contrast, the displacement field enhances the geometric superfluid stiffness in exciton condensates. It is most prominent at low densities and high displacement fields. Here, a consequence of the geometric superfluid stiffness is a modest enhancement of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature in bilayer graphene’s exciton condensate.

BKT transition↗
DOE OSTI2024

Theory of topological exciton insulators and condensates in flat Chern bands

Excitons are the neutral quasiparticles that form when Coulomb interactions create bound states between electrons and holes. Due to their bosonic nature, excitons are expected to condense and exhibit superfluidity at sufficiently low temperatures. In interacting Chern insulators, excitons may inherit the nontrivial topology and quantum geometry from the underlying electron wavefunctions. We theoretically investigate the excitonic bound states and superfluidity in flat-band insulators pumped with light. We find that the exciton wavefunctions exhibit vortex structures in momentum space, with the total vorticity being equal to the difference of Chern numbers between the conduction and valence bands. Moreover, both the exciton binding energy and the exciton superfluid density are proportional to the Brillouin-zone average of the quantum metric and the Coulomb potential energy per unit cell. Spontaneous emission of circularly polarized light from radiative decay is a detectable signature of the exciton vorticity. We propose that the vorticity can also be experimentally measured via the nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, whereas the exciton superfluidity can be detected by voltage-drop quantization through a combination of quantum geometry and Aharonov–Casher effect. Topological excitons and their superfluid phase could be realized in flat bands of twisted Van der Waals heterostructures.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
NASA NTRS1990

The fountain effect in aerospace cryogenics

The theory of the fountain effect, also known as the thermomechanical effect, exhibited by superfluid helium is presented, and the application of this effect in space projects is described. Future uses of superfluid He in space are also discussed. These include the use of the fountain effect for liquid-vapor phase separation; for pumping superfluid helium from a storage vessel to a payload (as in the Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer Flight Demonstration and the Superfluid Helium Tanker); for actuating a low-temperature refrigerator; and for circulating liquid helium within a cryostat (as in the Astromag dewar).

Castles, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Thermally Driven Josephson Effect

A concept is proposed of the thermally driven Josephson effect in superfluid helium. Heretofore, the Josephson effect in a superfluid has been recognized as an oscillatory flow that arises in response to a steady pressure difference between two superfluid reservoirs separated by an array of submicron-sized orifices, which act in unison as a single Josephson junction. Analogously, the thermally driven Josephson effect is an oscillatory flow that arises in response to a steady temperature difference. The thermally driven Josephson effect is partly a consequence of a quantum- mechanical effect known as the fountain effect, in which a temperature difference in a superfluid is accompanied by a pressure difference. The thermally driven Josephson effect may have significance for the development of a high-resolution gyroscope based on the Josephson effect in a superfluid: If the pressure-driven Josephson effect were used, then the fluid on the high-pressure side would become depleted, necessitating periodic interruption of operation to reverse the pressure difference. If the thermally driven Josephson effect were used, there would be no net flow and so the oscillatory flow could be maintained indefinitely by maintaining the required slightly different temperatures on both sides of the junction.

Penanen, Konstantin↗
DOE OSTI2021

The phase diagram of ultra quantum liquids

In this paper, we discuss the dependence of the phase diagram of a hypothetical isotope of helium with nuclear mass less than 4 atomic mass units. We argue that with decreasing nucleus mass, the temperature of the superfluid phase transition (about 2.2 K in real 4 He) increases, while that of the liquid-gas critical point (about 5.2 K in real 4 He) decreases. We discuss various scenarios that may occur when the two temperatures approach each other and the order parameters of the superfluid and the liquid-gas phase transitions interact with each other. The simplest scenario, in which both order parameters become critical at particular values of the nuclear mass, temperature, and pressure, can be ruled out through on an analysis of the Landau theory. We argue that in the most likely scenario, as the nuclear mass decreases, first, a tricritical point appears on the line separating the superfluid and the normal fluid phase, then the critical point disappears under the first-order part of superfluid phase transition line, and in the end the tricritical point disappears. The last change in the phase diagram occurs when the two-body scattering length crosses zero, which corresponds to the nuclear mass of about 1.55 u. We develop a quantitative theory that allows one to determine the phase diagram in the vicinity of this point. Lastly, we discuss several ways to physically realize such liquids.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Theoretical description of atomtronic Josephson junctions in an optical lattice

Experimental realizations of “atomtronic” Josephson junctions have recently been created in annular traps in relative rotation with respect to potential barriers that generate the weak links. If these devices are additionally subjected to an optical lattice potential, then they can incorporate strong-coupling Mott physics within the design, which can modify the behavior and can allow for interesting new configurations of barriers and of superfluid flow patterns. We examine theoretically the behavior of a Bose superfluid in an optical lattice in the presence of an annular trap and a barrier across the annular region which acts as a Josephson junction. As the superfluid is rotated, circulating super-currents appear. Beyond a threshold superfluid velocity, phase slips develop, which generate vortices. We use a finite temperature strong-coupling expansion about the mean-field solution of the Bose Hubbard model to calculate various properties of such devices. Additionally, we discuss some of the rich behavior that can result when there are Mott regions within the system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗