Generation and detection of quantum turbulence in superfluid 3He-B

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Jan 8;86(2):244-7. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.244.

Abstract

We describe the first direct observations of turbulence in superfluid 3He-B. The turbulence is generated by a vibrating-wire resonator driven at velocities exceeding the pair-breaking critical velocity. It is detected by the resulting decrease in the thermal damping on a neighboring "detector" vibrating-wire resonator. The superfluid flow field associated with the turbulence Andreev reflects thermal quasiparticle excitations, effectively screening the detector wire, resulting in a decrease in the thermal damping.