High-resolution measurements of rotons in4He

Abstract

We have measured the temperature dependence of the roton line shape (energy and width) using neutron backscattering. An energy resolution of less than 1 μeV was obtained, allowing a determination of the roton linewidth down toT=0.8 K. These results constitute a significant improvement on the previous best determination and extend the measured range of roton linewidth and energy shift by an order of magnitude. The temperature dependence of the measured linewidths is found to be in excellent agreement with calculations based on the 4-phonon decay process. The roton energy, however, is found to vary significantly more slowly with temperature than expected from the same theory. The origin of this discrepancy is not yet understood.