Quantum cavitation in liquid $^3$He: dissipation effects

TL;DR

This study explores how dissipation influences quantum cavitation in normal liquid helium-3, revealing that even small dissipation significantly lowers the crossover temperature, possibly explaining experimental challenges in observing quantum cavitation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of dissipation on the quantum-to-thermal crossover temperature in liquid helium-3 cavitation, providing insights into experimental discrepancies.

Findings

Small dissipation lowers the crossover temperature $T^*$.

Experimental observations may be affected by dissipation effects.

Dissipation could explain the absence of quantum cavitation evidence.

Abstract

We have investigated the effect that dissipation may have on the cavitation process in normal liquid $^3$He. Our results indicate that a rather small dissipation decreases sizeably the quantum-to-thermal crossover temperature $T^*$ for cavitation in normal liquid $^3$He. This is a possible explanation why recent experiments have not yet found clear evidence of quantum cavitation at temperatures below the $T^*$ predicted by calculations which neglect dissipation.