Bose-Einstein Condensation and Kinetic energy of liquid $^3$He-$^4$He Mixtures

TL;DR

This study uses neutron scattering to measure the momentum distribution and Bose-Einstein condensate fraction in liquid helium mixtures, revealing how $^3$He affects superfluid properties and confirming theoretical models.

Contribution

First neutron scattering measurements of $^3$He-$^4$He mixtures' momentum distribution, providing new insights into condensate fraction and kinetic energies across concentrations.

Findings

$^3$He increases the condensate fraction in mixtures.

$^4$He kinetic energy decreases with $^3$He concentration.

$^3$He momentum distribution aligns with a strongly interacting Fermi liquid.

Abstract

We present neutron scattering measurements of the momentum distribution of liquid ${^3}$He-${^4}$He mixtures. The experiments were performed at wavevectors $Q$, 26 $\leq$ $Q$ $\leq$ 29 {\AA$^{-1}$}, on the MARI time-of-flight spectrometer at the ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a spallation neutron source. Mixtures with $^3$He concentrations $x$ between 0 and 20% were investigated both in the superfluid and normal phases. From the data, we extract the Bose-Einstein condensate fraction $n_0$ and the momentum distributions of $^3$He and $^4$He atoms. We find that $n_0$ increases somewhat above the pure $^4$He value when $^3$He is added; e.g from $n_0=(7.25\pm0.75)%$ at $x=$ 0 to $(11\pm3)%$ at $x=$ 15-20%. This agrees with predictions but is less than the only previous measurement. We find a $^4$He kinetic energy $K_4$ for pure $^4$He that agrees with previous determinations. $K_4$ decreases somewhat with increasing $^3$He concentration, less than observed previously and found in early calculations but in agreement with a more recent Monte Carlo calculation. The $^3$He response is not well reproduced by a Fermi gas momentum distribution, $n(\bf{k})$. Rather an $n(\bf{k})$ having a small step height at the Fermi surface and a substantial high momentum tail characteristic of a strongly interacting Fermi liquid provides a good fit. This $n(\bf{k})$ is consistent with calculated $n(\bf{k})$. Thus agreement between theory and experiment is obtained comparing $n(\bf{k})$ in contrast to earlier findings based on comparing calculated and observed $^3$He kinetic energies.