Density Profile of a Quantized Vortex Line in Superfluid Helium-4

• Main Author: Harper, John Howard
• Other Authors: Kobe, Donald Holm
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: North Texas State University 1975
• Subjects: density amplitudes; quantum vortex lines; Gross-Pitaevskii equation; Liquid helium.; Vortex-motion.
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500722/

The density amplitude of an isolated quantum vortex line in superfluid 4He is calculated using a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii (G-P) equation. The generalized G-P equation for the order parameter extends the usual mean-field approach by replacing the interatomic potential in the ordinary G-P equation by a local, static T matrix, which takes correlations between the particles into account. The T matrix is a sum of ladder diagrams appearing in a diagrammatic expansion of the mean field term in an exact equation for the order parameter. It is an effective interaction which is much softer than the realistic interatomic Morse dipole-dipole potential from which it is calculated. A numerical solution of the generalized G-P equation is required since it is a nonlinear integro-differential equation with infinite limits. For the energy denominator in the T matrix equation, a free-particle spectrum and the observed phonon-roton spectrum are each used. For the fraction of particles in the zero-momentum state (Bose-Einstein dondensate) which enters the equation, both a theoretical value of 0.1 and an experimental value of 0.024 are used. The chemical potential is adjusted so that the density as a function of distance from the vortex core approaches the bulk density asymptotically. Solutions of the generalized G-P equation are not very dependent on the choice of energy denominator or condensate fraction. The density profile is a monotonically increasing function of the distance from the vortex core. The core radius, defined to be the distance to half the bulk density, varies from 3.7 A to 4.7 A, which is over three times the experimental value of 1.14 A at absolute zero.