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Defect Formation in Quench-Cooled Superfluid Phase Transition

V. M. Ruutu·V. B. Eltsov·M. Krusius·Yu. G. Makhlin·B. Placais·G. E. Volovik
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Abstract

We use neutron absorption in rotating 3He-B to heat locally a 10 micrometer-size volume into normal phase. When the heated region cools back in microseconds, vortex lines are formed. We record with NMR the number of lines as a function of superflow velocity and compare to the Kibble-Zurek theory of vortex-loop freeze-out from a random network of defects. The measurements confirm the calculated loop-size distribution and show that also the superfluid state itself forms as a patchwork of competing A and B phase blobs. This explains the A to B transition in supercooled neutron-irradiated 3He-A.

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V. M. Ruutu, V. B. Eltsov, M. Krusius, Yu. G. Makhlin, B. Placais, G. E. Volovik. 1997-06-18. Defect Formation in Quench-Cooled Superfluid Phase Transition. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.80.1465

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