Underbarrier nucleation kinetics in a metastable quantum liquid near the spinodal

TL;DR

This paper presents a theory describing how relaxation effects influence quantum nucleation rates in metastable quantum liquids near the spinodal, highlighting differences in cavitation kinetics between helium isotopes.

Contribution

It introduces a model accounting for relaxation effects on quantum decay near the spinodal, revealing how relaxation time impacts nucleation regimes and rates in quantum liquids.

Findings

Quantum nucleation rate decreases with shorter relaxation times.

Distinct behaviors of cavitation kinetics in $^3$He and $^4$He due to relaxation and sound mode differences.

Theoretical predictions align with low-temperature cavitation experiments.

Abstract

We develop a theory in order to describe the effect of relaxation in a condensed medium upon the quantum decay of a metastable liquid near the spinodal at low temperatures. We find that both the regime and the rate of quantum nucleation strongly depend on the relaxation time and its temperature behavior. The quantum nucleation rate slows down with the decrease of the relaxation time. We also discuss the low temperature experiments on cavitation in normal $^3$He and superfluid $^4$He at negative pressures. It is the sharp distinctions in the high frequency sound mode and in the temperature behavior of the relaxation time that make the quantum cavitation kinetics in $^3$He and $^4$He completely different in kind.