The concept of superfluid has fascinated most in the scientific community. The idea of something having the ability to flow, devoid of any friction eludes many. Such behaviour is observed in liquid helium at temperatures near absolute zero and it may be compared to how electrons in a superconducting solid may behave. However, a breakthrough may very well be in order as researchers led by Professor Wei Guo from FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Florida, United States have studied the movement of vortices in the aforementioned quantum fluids. Their study has been published in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, delivering evidence supporting a recent hypothetical model of quantized vortices. Professor Gao, who graduated with a PHD in Physics from Brown University has said, "Our findings resolve long-standing questions and enhance our understanding of vortex dynamics within the superfluid," Quantized vortices are miniature tornado-esque slender, hollow tunnels which give great explanations for phenomena such as turbulence in superfluid helium or glitches in neutron star rotation. Attempting to predict the motion of these vortices, researchers utilized solidified deuterium tracer particles caught inside the rings of the vortex. Upon illustrating them with a laser, the team captured images and quantified their movement. Using simulations, researchers fashioned a model to explain the vortex ring motion. They called it the S2W model which states that these rings gradually shrink as they interact with the thermal environment. While this model looks as a breakthrough in superfluid helium, it holds hope towards understanding other quantum-fluid systems such as atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluid neutron stars. These disturbances in superfluid may pave a path towards better understanding quantum mechanics as a whole and breakthroughs like these are most welcome in this era of scientific stasis.
References:
Yuan Tang, Wei Guo, Hiromichi Kobayashi, Satoshi Yui, Makoto Tsubota, Toshiaki Kanai. Imaging quantized vortex rings in superfluid helium to evaluate quantum dissipation. Nature Communications, 2023; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38787-w
Leggett, Anthony James. "superfluidity". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/superfluidity. Accessed 21 July 2023.
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