Onset Properties of Supersolid Helium

TL;DR

This paper investigates the onset properties of supersolid helium, explaining its low transition temperature and critical velocity through quantum jumps between local minima in the helium's many-body spectrum, which also induce dissipation.

Contribution

It introduces a spectrum-based explanation for supersolid helium's properties, emphasizing quantum jumps and their role in onset behavior and dissipation.

Findings

Supersolid helium has low transition temperature and critical velocity.

Quantum jumps between local minima explain onset properties.

Dissipation is naturally caused by these quantum jumps.

Abstract

Supersolid helium has a rather low transition temperature and a small critical velocity, compared with liquid helium. These properties could be explained in terms of helium's spectrum structure and quantum jumps involving large momentum transfer. A grain in the solid helium possess valleys (local minima) in its many-body dispersion curve, and an exchange of large momenta with the grain's surroundings occurs in a jump between a level in one valley and another level in the neighboring valley. Such jump process also naturally causes dissipation accompanying the onset of supersolidity.