Physical Review Letters
Superfluid-Vortex Thresholds and the Vortex-Core Parameter near Tλ
I. H. Lynall, D. Scott Shenk, R. J. Miller, James B. Mehl
Abstract
Superfluid-vortex thresholds in a rotating annulus were detected with second sound in the temperature range $0.01 \mathrm{K}<{T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}\ensuremath{-}T<0.2 \mathrm{K}$. A rapid decrease of the threshold angular velocity ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c1}$ was observed as $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$. The data can only be fitted to the theory of Fetter if a rapidly diverging vortex-core parameter is assumed.