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arXiv:1207.5137 · Physical Review Letters

Increasing Quantum Degeneracy by Heating a Superfluid

D. J. Papoular, G. Ferrari, Лев П. Питаевский, S. Stringari

Published Aug 20, 2012• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider a uniform superfluid confined in two compartments connected by a superleak and initially held at equal temperatures. If one of the two compartments is heated, a fraction of the superfluid will flow through the superleak. We show that, under certain thermodynamic conditions, the atoms flow from the hotter to the colder compartment, contrary to what happens in the fountain effect observed in superfluid helium. This flow causes quantum degeneracy to increase in the colder compartment. In superfluid helium, this novel thermomechanical effect takes place in the phonon regime of very low temperatures. In dilute quantum gases, it occurs at all temperatures below T(c). The increase in quantum degeneracy reachable through the adiabatic displacement of the wall separating the two compartments is also discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.109.084501

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We consider a uniform superfluid confined in two compartments connected by a superleak and initially held at equal temperatures. If one of the two compartments is heated, a fraction of the superfluid will flow through the superleak. We show that, under certain thermodynamic conditions, the atoms flow from the hotter to the colder compartment, contrary to what happens in the fountain effect observed in superfluid helium. This flow causes quantum degeneracy to increase in the colder compartment. In superfluid helium, this novel thermomechanical effect takes place in the phonon regime of very low temperatures. In dilute quantum gases, it occurs at all temperatures below T(c). The increase in quantum degeneracy reachable through the adiabatic displacement of the wall separating the two compartments is also discussed.
We consider a simple experimental setup, based on a harmonic confinement, where a Bose-Einstein condensate and a thermal cloud of weakly interacting alkali-metal atoms are trapped in two different vessels connected by a narrow channel. Using the classical field approximation, we theoretically investigate the analog of the celebrated superfluid-helium fountain effect. We show that this thermomechanical effect might indeed be observed in this system. By analyzing the dynamics of the system, we are able to identify the superfluid and normal components of the flow as well as to distinguish the condensate fraction from the superfluid component. We show that the superfluid component can easily flow from the colder vessel to the hotter one while the normal component is practically blocked in the latter. In the long-time limit, the superfluid component exhibits periodic oscillations reminiscent of the ac Josephson effect obtained in superfluid weak-link experiments.
We analyze the superfluid crossover of harmonically confined bosons with long-range interaction in both two and three dimensions in a broad parameter range from weak to strong coupling. We observe that the onset of superfluidity occurs in three dimensions at significantly lower temperatures compared to that in two dimensions. This is demonstrated to be a quantum degeneracy effect. In addition, the spatial distribution of superfluidity across the shells of the clusters is investigated. It is found that superfluidity is substantially reduced in the outer layers due to increased correlation effects.
Ultracold quantum gases offer a controllable and microscopically accessible platform for understanding and engineering superfluidity. Yet, realizing a superleak that selectively transports the superfluid while suppressing normal flow has remained elusive. Here, we harness an optical superlattice to realize such a superleak through dynamical selectivity. The superfluid undergoes coherent Josephson transport, whereas the normal component exhibits slow, thermodynamically limited response, resulting in a flow-rate contrast of 500(49). Exploiting this contrast, we demonstrate repeated filtering of the normal component and dynamical purification of the superfluid, while sustaining coherent driven oscillations for up to 100 cycles. Our results establish a controllable atomic superleak and open possibilities for manipulating transport and thermodynamics in quantum fluids.
We introduce an experimental platform designed around a thermomechanical helium fountain, which is aimed at investigating spectroscopy and dynamics of atoms and molecules in the superfluid and at its vapor interface. Laser ablation of copper, efficient cooling and transport of Cu and Cu(2) through helium vapor (1.5 K < T < 20 K), formation of linear and T-shaped Cu(2)-He complexes, and their continuous evolution into large Cu(2)-He(n) clusters and droplets are among the processes that are illustrated. Reflection is the dominant quantum scattering channel of translationally cold copper atoms (T = 1.7 K) at the fountain interface. Cu(2) dimers mainly travel through the fountain unimpeded. However, the conditions of fountain flow and transport of molecules can be controlled to demonstrate injection and, in particular, injection into a nondivergent columnar fountain with a plug velocity of about 1 m/s. The experimental observables are interpreted with the aid of bosonic density functional theory calculations and ab initio interaction potentials.
Liquid helium is the prototypical example of a superfluid – a liquid that flows without viscosity and transfers heat without a temperature gradient. These properties are intimately related to the Bose condensation that occurs in this strongly interacting liquid. Bose condensation is most directly observed in the single particle atomic momentum distribution, where the Bose condensate appears as a delta function singularity. In this article, we discuss the experimental techniques used to observe the condensate and the current status of measurments of the Bose condensate in liquid helium. Introduction Liquid helium ( 4 He) has fascinated physicists ever since Kammerlingh-Onnes liquified the last of the so called permanent gases in 1908. However, evidence of what is without doubt the most fascinating property of this unique liquid, superfluidity, was not reported until almost 25 years later [1]. The superfluid phase, where heat is transferred without a thermal gradient and mass flows without a driving pressure, is a macroscopic manifestation of microscopic quantum effects governing the behavior of atoms [2]. Bose–Einstein condensation was first proposed by London [3] as the microscopic explanation for these fascinating phenomena. Helium is unique among condensed atomic systems since the bulk properties of the liquid are dominated by quantum effects. The most important of these are the statistical effects that arise for identical particles. For bosons, such as 4 He atoms, there is no limitation on the number of particles that can occupy a single quantum state.
Quantum fluids are able to flow past obstacles without creating drag and through channels without any resistance. This superfluidity is a consequence of Bose–Einstein condensation, a process in which all the particles gather in the same, lowest-energy quantum state. At low flow velocities, energy exchanges between the obstacle and the fluid are forbidden because of the twin requirements of energy and momentum conservation. As the flow speed is increased, however, the superfluidity breaks down at some critical velocity above which excitations in the fluid can occur. These excitations can be phonons (i.e. quantized vibrations), vortices or, in the case of superfluid liquid helium, rotons (see Rotons: a low-temperature puzzle by Russell Donnelly Physics World February 1997 p25)