Flight-crash events in superfluid turbulence

Abstract

We show experimentally that the mechanisms of energy transport in turbulent flows of superfluid $^{4}\text{He}$ are strikingly different from those occurring in turbulent flows of viscous fluids. We argue that the result can be related to the role played by quantized vortices in this unique type of turbulence. The flow-induced motions of relatively small particles suspended in the liquid reveal that, for scales of the order of the mean distance between the vortices, the particles do not tend on average to decelerate faster than they accelerate, whereas, at larger scales, a classical-like asymmetry is recovered. It follows that, in the range of investigated parameters, flight-crash events are less apparent than in classical turbulence. We specifically link the outcome to the time symmetry of quantized vortex reconnections observed at scales comparable to the typical particle size.