Theory of p-wave Pairing for $^3$He on Grafoil

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the specific heat and susceptibility of $^3$He on Grafoil using Landau Fermi liquid theory, revealing dominant attractive p-wave interactions that could explain observed low-temperature anomalies.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the dominant quasiparticle interaction in $^3$He on Grafoil is p-wave and estimates the transition temperature, providing a theoretical basis for observed anomalies.

Findings

P-wave interaction is dominant and attractive.

Estimated p-wave transition temperature is several millikelvin.

Results relate to the specific heat anomaly at 3.2 mK.

Abstract

The specific heat and susceptibility data for $^3$He on Grafoil are analyzed in the framework of the Landau Fermi liquid theory. The dominant interaction between $^3$He quasiparticles is found to be in the p-wave channel for most experimentally accessible areal densities of $^{3}$He. This interaction is attractive and gives rise to the p-wave transition temperature which for moderate areal densities is estimated to be on the scale of several millikelvin. The relevance of these results to the anomaly in the specific heat observed at $ T_k = 3.2 \, \mbox{mK} $ is discussed.