The Anomalous Behavior of Solid $^{4}$He in Porous Vycor Glass

TL;DR

This study investigates the low-temperature behavior of solid helium-4 in porous Vycor glass, revealing complex responses that challenge the simple superfluid interpretation of previous period shift signals.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the low-temperature response of solid helium-4 in Vycor is more complex than a simple superfluid, showing unexpected frequency dependence.

Findings

Period shift signals similar to supersolid reports at low temperatures.

Contrary to expectations, signals show marked frequency dependence.

Solid helium-4 response is more complex than previously thought.

Abstract

The low temperature properties of solid $^4$He contained in porous Vycor glass have been investigated utilizing a two-mode compound torsional oscillator. At low temperatures, we find period shift signals for the solid similar to those reported by Kim and Chan \cite{ref1}, which were taken at the time as evidence for a supersolid helium phase. The supersolid is expected to have properties analogous to those of a conventional superfluid, where the superfluid behavior is independent of frequency and the ratio of the superfluid signals observed at two different mode periods will depend only on the ratio of the sensitivities of the mode periods to mass-loading. In the case of helium studies in Vycor, one can compare the period shift signals seen for a conventional superfluid film with signals obtained for a supersolid within the same Vycor sample. We find, contrary to our own expectations, that the signals observed for the solid display a marked period dependence not seen in the case of the superfluid film. This surprising result suggests that the low temperature response of solid $^4$He in a Vycor is more complex than previously assumed and cannot be thought of as a simple superfluid.