Vortex emissions from quantum turbulence generated by vibrating wire in superfluid 4He at finite temperature

Abstract

An oscillating object immersed in superfluid helium generates quantum turbulence, emitting quantized vortices to its surroundings. We report vortex emissions in directions parallel and perpendicular to the oscillating motion of a thin wire used as a turbulence generator. Two vibrating wires are used to detect the vortex emissions. We use superfluid 4He as a medium, with the temperature set to 1.25 K, at which a small amount of normal fluid component is present. In this setup, only vortex loops with sizes larger than a certain loop diameter D = 42 μm can be detected. In the perpendicular direction, vortex loops are detected when the oscillation amplitude is comparable with D. In the parallel direction, however, no vortex loops are detected at the same amplitude, suggesting an anisotropic emission of vortex loops.