Bose-Einstein Condensation in liquid $^4$He near the liquid-solid transition line

TL;DR

This study uses neutron scattering to measure the Bose-Einstein condensate fraction and atomic momentum distribution in liquid helium-4 near the transition, revealing strong interactions and coupling effects.

Contribution

First precise measurements of n0(T) and n*(k) in liquid 4He at high pressure, showing strong interaction effects and agreement with Monte Carlo simulations.

Findings

n0(0) ≈ 2.8% indicating weak condensate fraction

Significant narrowing of n*(k) at BEC onset

Coupling between BEC and high-momentum states

Abstract

We present precision neutron scattering measurements of the Bose-Einstein condensate fraction, n0(T), and the atomic momentum distribution, n\star(k), of liquid 4He at pressure p =24 bar. Both the temperature dependence of n0(T) and of the width of n\star(k) are determined. The n0(T) can be represented by n0(T) = n0(0)[1-(T/T{\lambda}){\gamma}] with a small n0(0) = 2.80\pm0.20% and large {\gamma} = 13\pm2 for T < T{\lambda} indicating strong interaction. The onset of BEC is accompanied by a significant narrowing of the n\star(k). The narrowing accounts for 65% of the drop in kinetic energy below T{\lambda} and reveals an important coupling between BEC and k > 0 states. The experimental results are well reproduced by Path Integral Monte Carlo calculations.