https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050261
Cavitation in superfluid helium-4 at low temperature
1
Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l'École Normale
Supérieure,
associé au CNRS et aux Universités Paris 6 et 7, 24 Rue Lhomond 75231,
Paris Cedex 05, France
2
Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
3
Academy of Sciences of Russia, Institute for Physical Problems,
Kosygin Street 2, Moscow 117334, Russia
Corresponding author: a proche@physique.ens.fr
Received:
15
November
1997
Revised:
19
December
1997
Accepted:
22
January
1998
Published online: 15 April 1998
We have studied the nucleation of bubbles in pure superfluid helium-4 at temperatures down to 65 mK. We have found that the nucleation is a stochastic process, and that at temperatures below 600 mK the nucleation rate is independent of temperature. These results are consistent with the assumption that the nucleation takes place via quantum tunneling.
PACS: 67.20.+k – Quantum effects on the structure and dynamics of nongenerate fluids (e.g., normal phase liquid 4He) / 47.55.Bx – Cavitation / 64.60.Qb – Nucleation
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1998