We present neutron scattering measurements of the momentum distribution of liquid
3He-
4He mixtures. The experiments were performed at wavevectors
Q, 26
≤ Q ≤ 29 {Å
−1}, on the MARI time-of-flight spectrometer at the ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a spallation neutron source. Mixtures with
3He concentrations
x between 0 and 20% were investigated both in the superfluid and normal phases. From the data, we extract the Bose-Einstein condensate fraction
n0 and the momentum distributions of
3He and
4He atoms. We find that
n0 increases somewhat above the pure
4He value when
3He is added; e.g from
n0=(7.25±0.75) at
x= 0 to
(11±3) at
x= 15-20%. This agrees with predictions but is less than the only previous measurement. We find a
4He kinetic energy
K4 for pure
4He that agrees with previous determinations.
K4 decreases somewhat with increasing
3He concentration, less than observed previously and found in early calculations but in agreement with a more recent Monte Carlo calculation. The
3He response is not well reproduced by a Fermi gas momentum distribution,
n(k). Rather an
n(k) having a small step height at the Fermi surface and a substantial high momentum tail characteristic of a strongly interacting Fermi liquid provides a good fit. This
n(k) is consistent with calculated
n(k). Thus agreement between theory and experiment is obtained comparing
n(k) in contrast to earlier findings based on comparing calculated and observed
3He kinetic energies.
We present neutron-scattering measurements of the momentum distribution of liquid $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ mixtures. The experiments were performed at wave vectors
Q, $26\ensuremath{\leqslant}Q\ensuremath{\leqslant}29\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, on the MARI time-of-flight spectrometer at the ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a spallation neutron source. Mixtures with
3He concentrations
x between 0 and 20% were investigated both in the superfluid and normal phases. From the data, we extract the Bose-Einstein condensate fraction
n0 and the momentum distributions of
3He and
4He atoms. We find that
n0 increases somewhat above the pure
4He value when
3He is added; e.g., from ${n}_{0}=(7.25\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.75)%$ at
x=0 to $(11\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3)%$ at
x=15−−20. This agrees with predictions but is less than the only previous measurement. We find a
4He kinetic energy
K4 for pure
4He that agrees with previous determinations.
K4 decreases somewhat with increasing
3He concentration, less than observed previously and found in early calculations but in agreement with a more recent Monte Carlo calculation. The
3He response is not well reproduced by a Fermi-gas momentum distribution,
n(k). Rather an
n(k) having a small step height at the Fermi surface and a substantial high-momentum tail characteristic of a strongly interacting Fermi liquid provides a good fit. This
n(k) is consistent with calculated
n(k). Thus agreement between theory and experiment is obtained comparing
n(k) in contrast to earlier findings based on comparing calculated and observed
3He kinetic energies.
The impulse approximation is used to describe the inelastic cross section for high-energy neutron scattering from superfluid helium in terms of a ground-state momentum distribution of the helium atoms as given by existing variational calculations. The predicted shape of the cross section is compared with recent experimental data and with a previous theory which approximated the noncondensate contribution to the dynamic structure factor by a single-Gaussian function. In contrast to conclusions obtained using the single-Gaussian approximation, our predicted inelastic cross section omitting a condensate contribution provides an acceptable fit to the experimental data. This fit is worsened by introducing a contribution from a condensate fraction in the amount consistent with the variational calculations, namely 11%. If the condensate fraction is arbitrarily reduced from this value, it is found that a much smaller value, with an upper limit of about 3%, is consistent with the available experimental data. It appears that unique assignments of condensate-fraction contributions to inelastic neutron scattering, for the range of neutron energies presently available, will require an improved theory of final-state effects on the shape of the condensate contribution.
We present precision neutron scattering measurements of the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) fraction
n0(T) and the atomic momentum distribution ${n}^{\ensuremath{\star}}(\mathbf{k})$ of liquid
4He as a function of temperature at pressure
p=24 bars. Both the temperature dependence of
n0(T) and of the width of ${n}^{\ensuremath{\star}}(\mathbf{k})$ are determined. The
n0(T) can be represented by ${n}_{0}(T)={n}_{0}(0)[1\ensuremath{-}{(T/{T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}})}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}]$ with a small ${n}_{0}(0)=2.80\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.20$
and large $\ensuremath{\gamma}=13\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$ for $T<{T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$, indicating a strong interaction. The onset of BEC is accompanied by a significant narrowing of the ${n}^{\ensuremath{\star}}(\mathbf{k})$. The narrowing accounts for 65
of the drop in kinetic energy below ${T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ and reveals an important coupling between BEC and
k>0 states. The experimental results are well reproduced by path integral Monte Carlo calculations.
We present neutron scattering measurements of the atomic momentum distribution
n(k) in solid helium under a pressure
p=41 bar (molar volume ${V}_{m}=20.01\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{mol}$) and at temperatures between 80 and 500 mK. The aim is to determine whether there is Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) below the critical temperature,
Tc=200 mK, where a superfluid density has been observed. Assuming BEC appears as a macroscopic occupation of the
k=0 state below
Tc, we find a condensate fraction of ${n}_{0}=(\ensuremath{-}0.10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.20)%$ at
T=80 mK and ${n}_{0}=(0.08\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.78)%$ at
T=120 mK, consistent with zero. The shape of
n(k) also does not change on crossing
Tc within measurement precision.