We demonstrate that a single reconnection of two quantum vortices can lead to the creation of a cascade of vortex rings. Our analysis, motivated by the analytical results in localized induction approximation, involved high resolution Biot-Savart and Gross-Pitaevskii simulations. The latter showed that the rings cascade starts on the atomic scale, with rings diameters orders of magnitude smaller than the characteristic line spacing in the tangle, and thus capable of penetrating the tangle and annihilating on the boundaries. That way such process can be an efficient decay mechanism for sparse or moderately dense vortex tangle at very low temperatures.
We demonstrate that a single reconnection of two quantum vortices can lead to the creation of a cascade of vortex rings. Our analysis, motivated by the analytical results in localized induction approximation, involved high resolution Biot-Savart and Gross-Pitaevskii simulations. The latter showed that the rings cascade starts on the atomic scale, with rings diameters orders of magnitude smaller than the characteristic line spacing in the tangle, and thus capable of penetrating the tangle and annihilating on the boundaries. That way such process can be an efficient decay mechanism for sparse or moderately dense vortex tangle at very low temperatures.
We investigate quantum vortex ring dynamics at scales smaller than the inter-vortex spacing in quantum turbulence. Through geometrical arguments and high-resolution numerical simulations, we examine the validity of simple estimates for the mean free path and the structure of vortex rings post-reconnection. We find that a large proportion of vortex rings remain coherent objects where approximately 75% of their energy is preserved. This leads us to consider the effectiveness of energy transport in turbulent tangles. Moreover, we show that in low density tangles, appropriate for the ultra-quantum regime, ring emission cannot be ruled out as an important mechanism for energy dissipation. However at higher vortex line densities, typically associated with the quasi-classical regime, loop emission is expected to make a negligible contribution to energy dissipation, even allowing for the fact that our work shows rings can survive multiple reconnection events. Hence the Kelvin wave cascade seems the most plausible mechanism leading to energy dissipation.
The evolution and the topological cascade of quantum vortices forming Borromean rings are studied for the first time. The initial configuration of the system is given by three elliptical planar loops linked together, and the evolution is governed by the numerical implementation of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. It is found that the topological cascade is not unique, but it depends crucially on the initial geometric configuration. Quantum vortices undergo a series of spontaneous reconnections, resulting in various degenerative pathways characterized by different topology and structural complexity triggered by the different inclination of one of the initial ellipses. Typical decaying routes are given by the successive creation of a Whitehead link, a connected sum of two Hopf links, a trefoil knot, a Hopf link, and the final formation of unknotted, unlinked loops. By structural complexity analysis, we show that the generic trend of the vortex decay goes through a series of topological simplifications, resulting in the formation of small-scale planar loops (rings). During the later stage of evolution, the inverse cascade and topological cycles involving the interaction of unknotted loops become more common, remaining sub-dominant to the overall topological simplification process. These results pave the way to investigate the fundamental relations between structural complexity and energy contents.
The idea that chaotic set of quantum vortices can mimic classical turbulence, or at least reproduce many main features, is currently actively being developed. Appreciating significance of the challenging problem of the classical turbulence it can be expressed that the idea to study it in terms of quantized line is indeed very important and may be regarded as a breakthrough. For this reason, this theory should be carefully scrutinized. One of the basic arguments supporting this point of view is the fact that vortex tangle decays at zero temperature, when the apparent mechanism of dissipation (mutual friction) is absent. Since the all possible mechanisms of dissipation of the vortex energy, discussed in the literature, are related to the small scales, it is natural to suggest that the Kolmogorov cascade takes the place with the flow of the energy, just as in the classical turbulence. In a series of recent experiment attenuation of vortex line density was observed and authors attribute this decay to the properties of the Kolmogorov turbulence. In the present work we discuss alternative possibility of decay of the vortex tangle, which is not related to dissipation at small scales. This mechanism is just the diffusive like spreading of the vortex tangle. We discuss a number of the key experiments, considering them both from the point of view of alternative explanation and of the theory of Kolmogorov turbulence in quantum fluids.
Abstract Quantum turbulence — the chaotic, non-equilibrium state of a superfluid threaded by a dense tangle of quantized vortex lines — provides a uniquely clean testbed for the universal statistical mechanics of turbulent energy transfer. We develop a theoretical account of the energy cascade across all relevant length scales: from macroscopic, quasi-classical Richardson–Kolmogorov eddies, through the dimensionally frustrated L’vov–Nazarenko–Rudenko (LNR) bottleneck at the mean inter-vortex spacing, down to the weakly nonlinear Kelvin-wave cascade on individual filaments, and finally to the zero-temperature dissipation cutoff. Starting from the Gross–Pitaevskii equation and its Madelung hydrodynamic decomposition, we separate the compressible and incompressible components of the flow to isolate the vortical and acoustic energy channels. Vortex reconnection is identified as the microscopic mechanism coupling these regimes, and the competing predictions of the Vortex Filament Model and the Gross–Pitaevskii equation for reconnection dynamics are compared. We review the theoretical controversy between the Kozik–Svistunov six-wave cascade and the L’vov–Nazarenko four-wave cascade, together with the associated tilt-symmetry debate, and present the finite-temperature two-fluid (HVBK) description, showing how mutual friction locks the normal and superfluid components at large scales while damping Kelvin waves at small scales. PACS numbers: 67.25.dk, 47.37.+q, 03.75.Kk, 47.32.C−
Quantum turbulence that exhibits vortex creation, annihilation and interactions is demonstrated as an exact solution of the time-dependent, free-particle Schrödinger equation evolved from a smooth random-phased initial condition. Relaxed quantum turbulence in 2D and 3D exhibits universal scaling in the steady-state energy spectrum as k-1 in small scales. Due to the lack of dissipation, no evidence of the Kolmogorov-type forward energy cascade in 3D or the inverse energy cascade in 2D is found, but the rotational and potential flow components do approach equi-partition in the scaling regime. In addition, the 3D vortex line-line correlation exhibits universal behaviour, scaled as \Deltar^-2, where \Deltar is the separation between any two vortex line elements, in fully developed turbulence. We also show that the quantum vortex is not frozen to the matter, nor is the vortex motion induced by other vortices via Biot-Savart's law. Thus, the quantum vortex is actually a nonlinear wave, propagating at a speed very different from a classical vortex.
As long as vorticity quantization remains irrelevant for long-wave physics, superfluid turbulence supports a regime macroscopically identical to the Kolmogorov cascade of a normal liquid. At high enough wave numbers, the energy flux in wavelength space is carried by individual Kelvin-wave cascades on separate vortex lines. We analyze the transformation of the Kolmogorov cascade into the Kelvin-wave cascade, revealing a chain of three distinct intermediate cascades supported by local-induction motion of the vortex lines and distinguished by specific reconnection mechanisms. The most prominent qualitative feature predicted is unavoidable production of vortex rings of a characteristic size.