Statistical laws and self-similarity of vortex rings emitted from a localized vortex tangle in superfluid He4

Abstract

We numerically simulated quantum turbulence in superfluid $^4$He to investigate the emission of vortex rings from a localized vortex tangle. Turbulence is characterized by some universal statistical laws. Although there are a lot of studies on statistical laws in bulk quantum turbulence, studies in inhomogeneous or localized turbulence is scarce. We first investigate the statistical laws of localized quantum turbulence, referring to two statistical laws deduced from the vibrating wire experiments in [Yano $et$ $al.$, J. Low Temp. Phys. $\bf{196}$, $184\ (2019)$]. The first law is the Poisson process for the detection of vortex rings; the vortex tangle emits vortex rings with frequencies depending on their sizes. The second law is the power law between the frequency and the size of the emitted vortex rings, showing the self-similarity of the tangle. To study these statistical laws numerically, we developed a system similar to experiments. First, we generate a localized statistically steady vortex tangle by injecting vortex rings from two opposite sides and causing collisions. We investigated the conditions that aid the formation of the tangles and the anisotropy of the emission of vortex rings from the tangle. Second, from the data on emitted rings, we reconstruct the two statistical laws. Results from our numerical investigations are consistent with the known self-similarity of emitted vortex rings and localized tangles.