arXiv:0704.2412 · Physical Review Letters
Giant Viscosity Enhancement in a Spin-Polarized Fermi Liquid
Hikota Akimoto, J. S. Xia, Donald Candela, William J. Mullin, E. D. Adams, Neil S. Sullivan
Abstract
The viscosity is measured for a Fermi liquid, a dilute $^{3}\mathrm{He}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ mixture, under extremely high magnetic field/temperature conditions ($B\ensuremath{\le}14.8\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{T}$, $T\ensuremath{\ge}1.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{mK}$). The spin-splitting energy $\ensuremath{\mu}B$ is substantially greater than the Fermi energy ${k}_{B}{T}_{F}$; as a consequence the polarization tends to unity and $s$-wave quasiparticle scattering is suppressed for $T\ensuremath{\ll}{T}_{F}$. Using a novel composite vibrating-wire viscometer an enhancement of the viscosity is observed by a factor of more than 500 over its low-field value. Good agreement is found between the measured viscosity and theoretical predictions based upon a $t$-matrix formalism.