No Arabic abstract
We investigate the behaviour of the mutual friction force in finite temperature quantum turbulence in $^4$He, paying particular attention to the role of quantized vortex reconnections. Through the use of the vortex filament model, we produce three experimentally relevant types of vortex tangles in steady-state conditions, and examine through statistical analysis, how local properties of the tangle influence the mutual friction force. Finally, by monitoring reconnection events, we present evidence to indicate that vortex reconnections are the dominant mechanism for producing areas of high curvature and velocity leading to regions of high mutual friction, particularly for homogeneous and isotropic vortex tangles.
In a concurrent work, Villois et al. 2020 reported the evidence that vortex reconnections in quantum fluids follow an irreversible dynamics, namely vortices separate faster than they approach; such time-asymmetry is explained by using simple conservation arguments. In this work we develop further these theoretical considerations and provide a detailed study of the vortex reconnection process for all the possible geometrical configurations of the order parameter (superfluid) wave function. By matching the theoretical description of incompressible vortex filaments and the linear theory describing locally vortex reconnections, we determine quantitatively the linear momentum and energy exchanges between the incompressible (vortices) and the compressible (density waves) degrees of freedom of the superfluid. We show theoretically and corroborate numerically, why a unidirectional density pulse must be generated after the reconnection process and why only certain reconnecting angles, related to the rates of approach and separations, are allowed. Finally, some aspects concerning the conservation of centre-line helicity during the reconnection process are discussed.
The nonlinear dynamics associated with sliding friction forms a broad interdisciplinary research field that involves complex dynamical processes and patterns covering a broad range of time and length scales. Progress in experimental techniques and computational resources has stimulated the development of more refined and accurate mathematical and numerical models, capable of capturing many of the essentially nonlinear phenomena involved in friction.
We study the reconnection of vortices in a quantum fluid with a roton minimum, by numerically solving the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equations. A non-local interaction potential is introduced to mimic the experimental dispersion relation of superfluid $^4mathrm{He}$. We begin by choosing a functional shape of the interaction potential that allows to reproduce in an approximative way the so-called roton minimum observed in experiments, without leading to spurious local crystallization events. We then follow and track the phenomenon of reconnection starting from a set of two perpendicular vortices. A precise and quantitative study of various quantities characterizing the evolution of this phenomenon is proposed: this includes the evolution of statistics of several hydrodynamical quantities of interest, and the geometrical description of a observed helical wave packet that propagates along the vortex cores. Those geometrical properties are systematically compared to the predictions of the Local Induction Approximation (LIA), showing similarities and differences. The introduction of the roton minimum in the model does not change the macroscopic properties of the reconnection event but the microscopic structure of the vortices differs. Structures are generated at the roton scale and helical waves are evidenced along the vortices. However, contrary to what is expected in classical viscous or inviscid incompressible flows, the numerical simulations do not evidence the generation of structures at smaller or larger scales than the typical atomic size.
A general Hamiltonian wave system with quartic resonances is considered, in the standard kinetic limit of a continuum of weakly interacting dispersive waves with random phases. The evolution equation for the multimode characteristic function $Z$ is obtained within an interaction representation and a perturbation expansion in the small nonlinearity parameter. A frequency renormalization is performed to remove linear terms that do not appear in the 3-wave case. Feynman-Wyld diagrams are used to average over phases, leading to a first order differential evolution equation for $Z$. A hierarchy of equations, analogous to the Boltzmann hierarchy for low density gases is derived, which preserves in time the property of random phases and amplitudes. This amounts to a general formalism for both the $N$-mode and the 1-mode PDF equations for 4-wave turbulent systems, suitable for numerical simulations and for investigating intermittency.
Intermittency is a hallmark of turbulence, which exists not only in turbulent flows of classical viscous fluids but also in flows of quantum fluids such as superfluid $^4$He. Despite the established similarity between turbulence in classical fluids and quasi-classical turbulence in superfluid $^4$He, it has been predicted that intermittency in superfluid $^4$He is temperature dependent and enhanced for certain temperatures, which strikingly contrasts the nearly flow-independent intermittency in classical turbulence. Experimental verification of this theoretical prediction is challenging since it requires well-controlled generation of quantum turbulence in $^4$He and flow measurement tools with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we report an experimental study of quantum turbulence generated by towing a grid through a stationary sample of superfluid $^4$He. The decaying turbulent quantum flow is probed by combining a recently developed He$^*_2$ molecular tracer-line tagging velocimetry technique and a traditional second sound attenuation method. We observe quasi-classical decays of turbulent kinetic energy in the normal fluid and of vortex line density in the superfluid component. For several time instants during the decay, we calculate the transverse velocity structure functions. Their scaling exponents, deduced using the extended self-similarity hypothesis, display non-monotonic temperature-dependent intermittency enhancement, in excellent agreement with recent theoretical/numerical study of Biferale et al. [Phys. Rev. Fluids 3, 024605 (2018)].