Bathtub vortex in superfluid $^4$He

TL;DR

This paper investigates the structure and formation of quantized vortex bundles in superfluid helium-4 under macroscopic suction flows, using numerical simulations to propose observable characteristics and new flow structures.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical analysis of vortex bundle formation in superfluid helium-4, revealing new steady-state structures and suggesting experimental verification methods.

Findings

Identification of possible vortex bundle structures in superfluid flow

Proposal of measuring diffusion constants to verify vortex configurations

Elucidation of a new macroscopic superfluid flow type

Abstract

We have investigated the structure of macroscopic suction flows in superfluid $^4$He. In this study, we primarily analyze the structure of the quantized vortex bundle that appears to play an important role in such systems. Our study is motivated by a series of recent experiments conducted by a research group in Osaka City University [Yano $\textit{et. al.}$, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. $\textbf{969}$, 012002 (2018)]; they created a suction vortex using a rotor in superfluid $^4$He. They also reported that up to $10^4$ quantized vortices accumulated in the central region of the rotating flow. The quantized vortices in such macroscopic flows are assumed to form a bundle structure; however, the mechanism has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, we prescribe a macroscopic suction flow to the normal fluid and discuss the evolution of a giant vortex ($\textit{i.e.}$, one with a circulation quantum number exceeding unity) and a bundle of singly quantized vortices from a small number of seed vortices. Then, using numerical simulations, we discuss several possible characteristic structures of the bundle in such a flow, and we suggest that the actual steady-state bundle structure in the experiment can be verified by measuring the diffusion constant of the vortex bundle after the macroscopic normal flow has been switched off. By applying extensive knowledge of the superfluid $^4$He system, we elucidate a new type of macroscopic superfluid flow and identify a novel structure of quantized vortices.