Evaporation of a packet of quantized vorticity

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates the diffusion and fragmentation of a packet of quantized vortices in superfluid He3-B, providing insights into turbulence spreading and reconnection dynamics consistent with recent experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical study of vortex packet evaporation, highlighting reconnection-driven fragmentation and turbulence spreading in superfluid helium-3.

Findings

Reconnections fragment vortex packets into small loops.

The time scale of vortex dispersion matches experimental data.

Vortex loops fly away, indicating turbulence spreading.

Abstract

A recent experiment has confirmed the existence of quantized turbulence in superfluid He3-B and suggested that turbulence is inhomogenous and spreads away from the region around the vibrating wire where it is created. To interpret the experiment we study numerically the diffusion of a packet of quantized vortex lines which is initially confined inside a small region of space. We find that reconnections fragment the packet into a gas of small vortex loops which fly away. We determine the time scale of the process and find that it is in order of magnitude agreement with the experiment.