Kolmogorov-Hinze scales in turbulent superfluids

TL;DR

This paper investigates the size distribution of immiscible fluid domains in turbulent superfluids, confirming classical Kolmogorov-Hinze scaling in strong immiscibility and revealing quantum effects in weak immiscibility.

Contribution

It demonstrates the applicability of Kolmogorov-Hinze theory to superfluids and identifies quantum effects altering domain size scaling.

Findings

Domain size scales as ε^{-2/5} in strong immiscibility

Quantum effects modify scaling to ε^{-1/4} in weak immiscibility

Numerical simulations confirm theoretical predictions

Abstract

When a two-component mixture of immiscible fluids is stirred, the fluids are split into smaller domains with more vigorous stirring. We numerically investigate the sizes of such domains in a fully-developed turbulent state of a two-component superfluid stirred with energy input rate $\epsilon$. For the strongly immiscible condition, the typical domain size is shown to be proportional to $\epsilon^{-2/5}$, as predicted by the Kolmogorov-Hinze theory in classical fluids. For the weakly immiscible condition, quantum effects become pronounced and the power changes from $-2 / 5$ to $-1 / 4$.