Superfluid helium-3 in confined quarters
Abstract
Liquid helium-3 and helium-4 are remarkable substances. They are quantum liquids, meaning that their behavior is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Because of their small atomic mass, each isotope exists in a liquid state down to the temperature of absolute zero. And at sufficiently low temperature, each becomes a superfluid. However, the two isotopes have very different properties because 3He is a fermion and 4He is a boson. As a result of their different statistics, superfluidity in 3He appears at a temperature one-thousandth of that at which superfluid 4He forms. A second difference is that 3He has multiple thermodynamic phases. © 2018 American Institute of Physics Inc. All rights reserved.
Date Published
Journal
Physics Today
Volume
71
Issue
11
Number of Pages
30-36,
URL
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85056110965&doi=10.1063%2fPT.3.4067&partnerID=40&md5=405748eefd8496df8360b6e77c85ffff
DOI
10.1063/PT.3.4067
Research Area
Group (Lab)
Jeevak Parpia Group
Funding Source
DMR-1508730
DMR-1602542
DMR-1708341