Superfluid: Statistical and Low Temperature Physics (PHYS393)
Superfluid: Statistical and Low Temperature Physics (PHYS393)
Superfluid: Statistical and Low Temperature Physics (PHYS393)
7. Superfluid
Kai Hock
2013 - 2014
University of Liverpool
Learning Aims: You will learn to
1
Learning Aims: You will learn to
Sketch and explain the graph for heat capacity of helium gas
around the condensation temperature.
2
Superfluid helium
3
Superfluid helium.
The phase diagram shows that helium can only become a solid
if the pressure is higher than 25 atm.
http://ltl.tkk.fi/wiki/LT/%C2%B5KI_Group/Helium_Crystals
5
Superfluid ideas.
7
Dispersion relation.
8
Dispersion relation.
E = pc,
where c here is the speed of sound.
v = f , E = hf and p = h/.
The dispersion relation is again a constraint on the possible
values of E and p.
9
The Landau critical velocity.
10
The Landau critical velocity.
By energy conservation,
1 1
M v = M v 02 + E.
2
2 2
Suppose that the momentum of the excitation is p. By
momentum conservation,
M v = M v0 + p.
12
The Landau critical velocity.
13
The Landau critical velocity.
v0
v v0
v
14
The Landau critical velocity.
|v v 0 | v v 0 ,
we find
p E
,
M vM
or
E
v .
p
So v must be larger than E/p in order to produce any
excitation.
15
The Landau critical velocity.
16
The Landau critical velocity.
Assume that the body loses only a very small fraction of its
kinetic energy to the excitation energy. We have shown that
E
v .
p
In words, the ratio of the excitation energy to its momentum
cannot be bigger than the velocity of the body.
17
The Landau critical velocity.
18
Superfluid dispersion relation
Consider the following two ways in which the moving body can
produce excitations:
20
Creating a phonon.
24
Landau critical velocity.
They found that the resistance remained zero until the velocity
of the ball reached 45 m/s. Then the resistance increased
rapidly.
26
Londons explanation of superfluidity
27
Explaining superfluidity.
28
In order to test his theory, London calculated the transition
temperature and heat capacity of the BEC (left figure). He
showed that there is some agreement with liquid helium-4
(right figure), at least in trend.
29
BEC heat capacity.
30
Helium-4 is a boson. The energy distribution of bosons is given
by the Bose-Einstein distribution:
g()d
n()d =
exp(( )/kB T ) 1
31
The density of states
The answer is: we use the same density of state for the ideal
gas:
4mV 1/2
g() = (2m)
h3
This is the very first one that we have seen, before we have to
include the additional effects of spin and polarisation.
32
The chemical potential
33
The chemical potential
1
f () =
exp(( )/kB T ) 1
So must be negative.
1
If temperature falls, f () = exp(()/k decreases.
B T )1
36
The chemical potential
37
The occupation number
38
Number of atoms in the excited state
39
The condensation temperature
40
Transition temperature
and provides some support for the idea that the superfluid is a
BEC.
41
Heat capacity.
42
Below condensation temperature.
43
Above condensation temperature.
45
Condensation Temperature
I have said earlier that at very low temperature, we may set the
chemical potential to zero, so that the total number:
Z
g()d
N = ,
0 exp(( )/kB T ) 1
becomes the excited number:
Z
g()d
Nex = ,
0 exp(/kB T ) 1
I have not actually justfied why it is valid to set to zero. We
shall do this now.
46
When is set to zero, the integral becomes:
1/2d
Z
g()d 4mV
Z
= (2m)1/2 .
0 exp(/kB T ) 1 h3 0 exp(/kB T ) 1
This can be integrated using the result
Z 1/2
x
dx = 2.315
0 ex 1
to give the finite answer
2mkB T 3/2
Z
g()d
= 2
2.612V
0 exp(/kB T ) 1 h
Denote this by Nex and sketch the graph against T .
47
To understand what this means, consider the original integral
Z
g()d
N = .
0 exp(( )/kB T ) 1
can be adjusted so that the integral is equal to N . Assuming
that this is the case, a graph of N versus T is just a horizontal
line.
48
Compare
Z
g()d
Nex =
0 exp(/kB T ) 1
and
Z
g()d
N = .
0 exp(( )/kB T ) 1
They are equal when = 0. When they are equal, the two
graphs also meet.
50
Then can only stay 0 because it cannot be positive. So the
integral is now equal to Nex. As T falls further, the integral
falls along the Nex curve.
Recall from the ideal gas lectures that g() is used when there
are many energy levels for each energy interval d.
This is all right at room temperature where there are very few
particles in the ground state. At very low temperatures when
most of the particles go into the ground state, this is not valid
any more.
52
This means that if we want to calculate the total energy or
number of particles, we should really add up the number in
each energy level one by one, like this:
X
N = ni.
We cannot integrate using density of states anymore.
53
This understanding gives us a way to interpret the decreasing
Nex. It is the number of particles that have not fallen into the
ground state yet - i.e. the number of excited particles. This
means that TBE is the temperature at which particles start
going into the ground state at a macroscopic (very large) scale
- it is the condensation temperature.
54
Learning Outcome: You should be able to
55
Learning Outcome: You should be able to
Sketch and explain the graph for heat capacity of helium gas
around the condensation temperature.
56
Worked Examples
57
Example 1
58
Solution
Dispersion relation is
p2
E= ,
2m
where p is momentum and E is energy of each particle.
61
Example 2
62
Solutions
(i)
65
Example 3
(i) Write down the integral expression for the total number of
bosons in terms of density of states. Explain this integral.
66
Solution
68
Example 4
(i) Write down the expression for the number of excited bosons
at temperature below condenstion.
69
Solutions
72