Supercooling of the A phase of $^3$He

Yefan Tian; Dmytro Lotnyk; Anna Eyal; Kuang Zhang; Nikolay Zhelev; T. S. Abhilash; Aldo Chavez; Eric Smith; Mark Hindmarsh; John Saunders; Erich Mueller; Jeevak Parpia

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35532-7

arXiv · 2208.14981

Supercooling of the A phase of $^3$He

Yefan Tian·Dmytro Lotnyk·Anna Eyal·Kuang Zhang·Nikolay Zhelev·T. S. Abhilash·Aldo Chavez·Eric Smith·Mark Hindmarsh·John Saunders·Erich Mueller·Jeevak Parpia

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Abstract

Because of the extreme purity, lack of disorder, and complex order parameter, the first-order superfluid $^3$He A-B transition is the leading model system for first order transitions in the early universe. Here we report on the path dependence of the supercooling of the A phase over a wide range of pressures below 29.3 bar at nearly zero magnetic field. The A phase can be cooled significantly below the thermodynamic A-B transition temperature. While the extent of supercooling is highly reproducible, it depends strongly upon the cooling trajectory: The metastability of the A phase is enhanced by transiting through regions where the A phase is more stable. We provide evidence that some of the additional supercooling is due to the elimination of B phase seeds formed upon passage through the superfluid transition. A greater understanding of the physics is essential before the $^3$He can be exploited to model transitions in the early universe.

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Yefan Tian, Dmytro Lotnyk, Anna Eyal, Kuang Zhang, Nikolay Zhelev, T. S. Abhilash, Aldo Chavez, Eric Smith, Mark Hindmarsh, John Saunders, Erich Mueller, Jeevak Parpia. 2022-08-25. Supercooling of the A phase of $^3$He. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35532-7

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