Vortices and the Super fluid λ-Transition

Abstract

An initial model of the superfluid λ-transition is constructed using vortex-ring excitations, as originally suggested by Onsager and Feynman. A real-space renormalization technique generates a screened vortex energy and core size, and gives rise to a transition where rings of infinite diameter are excited as the superfluid density approaches zero at Tc. Although the model satisfies the Josephson hyperscaling relation, it is not yet a complete theory: the superfluid density exponent is v=0.53, and does not match the known value v=0.67.