Jeevak M. Parpia

Anisotropic pair breaking close to surfaces favors the chiral A phase of the superfluid He 3 over the time-reversal invariant B phase. Confining the superfluid He 3 into a cavity of height D of the order of the Cooper pair size characterized by the coherence length ξ 0 —ranging between 16 nm (34 bar) and 77 nm (0 bar)—extends the surface effects over the whole sample volume, thus allowing stabilization of the A phase at pressures P and temperatures T where otherwise the B phase would be stable. In this Letter, the surfaces of such a confined sample are covered with a superfluid He 4 film to create specular quasiparticle scattering boundary conditions, preventing the suppression of the superfluid order parameter. We show that the chiral A phase is the stable superfluid phase under strong confinement over the full P − T phase diagram down to a quasi-two-dimensional limit D / ξ 0 = 1 , where D = 80 nm . The planar phase, which is degenerate with the chiral A phase in the weak-coupling limit, is not observed. The gap inferred from measurements over the wide pressure range from 0.2 to 21.0 bar leads to an empirical ansatz for temperature-dependent strong-coupling effects. We discuss how these results pave the way for the realization of the fully gapped two-dimensional p x + i p y superfluid under more extreme confinement.

Evidence of fluctuations in transport have long been predicted in ³He. They are expected to contribute only within 100μK of T_c and play a vital role in the theoretical modeling of ordering; they encode details about the Fermi liquid parameters, pairing symmetry, and scattering phase shifts. It is expected that they will be of crucial importance for transport probes of the topologically nontrivial features of superfluid ³He under strong confinement. Here we characterize the temperature and pressure dependence of the fluctuation signature, by monitoring the quality factor of a quartz tuning fork oscillator. We have observed a fluctuation-driven reduction in the viscosity of bulk ³He, finding data collapse consistent with the predicted theoretical behavior.

By monitoring the quality factor of a quartz tuning fork oscillator we have observed a fluctuationd-driven reduction in the viscosity of bulk ³He in the normal state near the superfluid transition temperature, T_c. These fluctuations, which are only found within 100 μK of T_c, play a vital role in the theoretical modeling of ordering; they encode details about the Fermi liquid parameters, pairing symmetry, and scattering phase shifts. They will be of crucial importance for transport probes of the topologically nontrivial features of superfluid ³He under strong confinement. We characterize the temperature and pressure dependence of the fluctuation signature, finding a remarkable collapse.

Because of the extreme purity, lack of disorder, and complex order parameter, the first-order superfluid ³He A–B transition is the leading model system for first order transitions in the early universe. Here we report on the path dependence of the supercooling of the A phase over a wide range of pressures below 29.3 bar at nearly zero magnetic field. The A phase can be cooled significantly below the thermodynamic A–B transition temperature. While the extent of supercooling is highly reproducible, it depends strongly upon the cooling trajectory: The metastability of the A phase is enhanced by transiting through regions where the A phase is more stable. We provide evidence that some of the additional supercooling is due to the elimination of B phase nucleation precursors formed upon passage through the superfluid transition. A greater understanding of the physics is essential before ³He can be exploited to model transitions in the early universe.

Because of the extreme purity, lack of disorder, and complex order parameter, the first-order superfluid ³He A-B transition is the leading model system for first order transitions in the early universe. Here we report on the path dependence of the supercooling of the A phase over a wide range of pressures below 29.3 bar at nearly zero magnetic field. The A phase can be cooled significantly below the thermodynamic A-B transition temperature. While the extent of supercooling is highly reproducible, it depends strongly upon the cooling trajectory: The metastability of the A phase is enhanced by transiting through regions where the A phase is more stable. We provide evidence that some of the additional supercooling is due to the elimination of B phase seeds formed upon passage through the superfluid transition. A greater understanding of the physics is essential before the ³He can be exploited to model transitions in the early universe.

Because of the extreme purity, lack of disorder, and complex order parameter, the first-order superfluid $^3$He A-B transition is the leading model system for first order transitions in the early universe. Here we report on the path dependence of the supercooling of the A phase over a wide range of pressures below 29.3 bar at nearly zero magnetic field. The A phase can be cooled significantly below the thermodynamic A-B transition temperature. While the extent of supercooling is highly reproducible, it depends strongly upon the cooling trajectory: The metastability of the A phase is enhanced by transiting through regions where the A phase is more stable. We provide evidence that some of the additional supercooling is due to the elimination of B phase seeds formed upon passage through the superfluid transition. A greater understanding of the physics is essential before the $^3$He can be exploited to model transitions in the early universe.