Nordita Astrophysics Seminars

Quantum vortex reconnections and implications for the inverse energy transfer in 3D turbulence

by Carlo Barenghi (University of Newcastle upon Tyne)

Europe/Stockholm
122:026

122:026

Description
In low-temperature superfluid helium, viscosity is zero and vorticity takes the form of discrete vortex filaments of fixed circulation and atomic thickness. We present numerical evidence of three-dimensional inverse energy transfer from small length scales to large length scales in superfluid turbulence generated by a flow of vortex rings. We argue that the effect arises from the anisotropy of the flow, which favors vortex reconnections of vortex loops of the same polarity, and that it has been indirectly observed in the laboratory. The effect opens questions about analogies with related processes in ordinary turbulence.

Phys. Rev. E (2014)
Phys. Fluids (2012)