- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Reviews of Modern Physics

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Nucleation of the AB transition in superfluid He3: Surface effects and baked Alaska

P. Schiffer* and D. D. Osheroff

P. Schiffer*

  • AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974

D. D. Osheroff

  • Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

  • *Address after August 1995: Dept. of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
PDF

Rev. Mod. Phys. 67, 491 – Published 1 April, 1995

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.67.491

Abstract

The first-order phase transition between the A and B phases of superfluid He3 has remained an outstanding mystery in helium physics for nearly 20 years. The small difference in bulk free energies between the two phases, combined with the relatively large surface energy associated with the AB interface, leads to an anomalously large critical radius for nucleation, of order 1 μm, suggesting a lifetime for the super-cooled A phase against homogeneous nucleation far beyond the age of the universe. Yet anisotropy of the high-temperature phase minimizes the depairing effects of surfaces, thus making conventional heterogeneous nucleation unlikely. Recent experiments have been reported that lend support to one of the more exotic nucleation mechanisms ever proposed: Leggett's "baked Alaska" model, in which the B phase is nucleated by cosmic rays penetrating the supercooled A phase. The results of these experiments are discussed, along with the prospects for future work.

View figure in article

References (40)

  1. Ahonen, A. I., J. Kokko, O. V. Lounasmaa, M. A. Paalanen, R. C. Richardson, W. Schoepe, and Y. Takano, 1976, Phys. Rev. Lett. 37, 511
  2. Ahonen, A. I., M. Krusius, and M. A. Paalanen, 1976, Low Temp. Phys. 25, 421
  3. Anderson, P. W., and W. F. Brinkman, 1978, in The Physics of Liquid and Solid Helium, Part II, edited by K. H. Bennemann and J. B. Ketterson (Wiley, New York)
  4. Anderson, P. W., and P. Morel, 1961, Phys. Rev. 123, 1911
  5. Bailin, D., and A. Love, 1980, J. Phys. A 13, L271
  6. Balian, R., and N. R. Werthamer, 1963, Phys. Rev. 131, 1553
  7. Boyd, S. T. P., and G. W. Swift, 1993, private communication
  8. Brinkman, W. F., and P. W. Anderson, 1973, Phys. Rev. A 8, 2732
  9. Buchanan, D. S., G. W. Swift, and J. C. Wheatley, 1986, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 341
  10. Freeman, M. R., R. S. Germain, E. V. Thuneberg, and R. C. Richardson, 1988, Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 596
  11. Freeman, M. R., and R. C. Richardson, 1990, Phys. Rev. B 41, 11 011
  12. Fukuyama, Hiroshi, Hidehiko Ishimoto, Tetsurou Tazaki, and Shinji Ogawa, 1987, Phys. Rev. B 36, 8921
  13. Gould, C. M., 1991, private communication
  14. Gould, C. M., 1993, private communication
  15. Greywall, D. S., 1986, Phys. Rev. B 33, 7520
  16. Hahn, I., 1993, Ph.D. thesis (University of Southern California)
  17. Hakonen, P. J., M. Krusius, M. M. Salomaa, and J. T. Simola, 1985, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 245
  18. Hensley, H. H., Y. Lee, P. Hamot, T. Mizusaki, and W. P. Halperin, 1993, J. Low Temp. Phys. 90, 149
  19. Kaul, R., and H. Kleinert, 1980, J. Low Temp. Phys. 38, 539
  20. Kleinberg, R. L., D. N. Paulson, R. A. Webb, and J. C. Wheatley, 1974, Low Temp. Phys. 17, 521
  21. Lee, D. M., and R. C. Richardson, 1978, in The Physics of Liquid and Solid Helium, Part II, edited by K. H. Bennemann and J. B. Ketterson (Wiley, New York)
  22. Leggett, A. J., 1965, Phys. Rev. Lett. 14, 536
  23. Leggett, A. J., 1975, Rev. Mod. Phys. 47, 331
  24. Leggett, A. J., 1984, Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 1096
  25. Leggett, A. J., 1992, J. Low Temp. Phys. 87, 571
  26. Leggett, A. J., and S. K. Yip, 1989, in Superfluid He3, edited by L. P. Pitaevskii and W. P. Halperin (North-Holland, Amsterdam)
  27. Nelson, W. R., Hideo Hirayama, and D. W. O. Rodgers, 1986, "The EGS4 Code System," December 1985 (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford, CA), Report No. 265
  28. O'Keefe, M. T., B. I. Barker, and D. D. Osheroff, 1995, unpublished
  29. Osheroff, D. D., 1972, Ph.D. thesis (Cornell University)
  30. Osheroff, D. D., and M. C. Cross, 1977, Phys. Rev. Lett. 38, 905
  31. Osheroff, D. D.M. C. CrossParts, U., V. M. H. Ruutu, J. H. Koivuniemi, M. Krusius, E. V. Thuneberg, and G. E. Volovik, 1995, Eds., Proceedings of the Symposium on Vortices, Interfaces, and Mesoscopic Phenomena in Quantum Systems, Jyuäskylä, Finland, Physica B (in press)
  32. Schiffer, P., 1993, Ph.D. thesis (Stanford University)
  33. Schiffer, P., M. T. O'Keefe, Hiroshi Fukuyama, and D. D. Osheroff, 1992, Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 3096
  34. Schiffer, P., M. T. O'Keefe, M. D. Hildreth, Hiroshi Fukuyama, and D. D. Osheroff, 1992, Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 120
  35. Schiffer, P., D. D. Osheroff, and A. J. Leggett, 1995, Prog. Low Temp. Phys. (in press)
  36. Scholz, H. R., 1981, Ph.D. thesis (The Ohio State University)
  37. Schopohl, N., 1987, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1664
  38. Swift, G. W., and D. S. Buchanan, 1987, in Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics, published in Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 26-3, 1828
  39. Vollhardt, D., and P. Wölfle, 1990, The Superfluid Phases of Helium 3 (Taylor and Francis, London)
  40. Wilson, K., 1983, Rev. Mod. Phys. 55, 583

Outline

Information

Rev. Mod. Phys. 67, 491– Published 1 April, 1995

    © 1995 American Physical Society

    Sign In to Your Journals Account

    Filter

    Filter

    Article Lookup

    Enter a citation