Roton-Phonon Interactions in Superfluid 4He

Abstract

High-resolution neutron resonance spin-echo measurements of superfluid 4He show that the roton energy does not have the same temperature dependence as the inverse lifetime. Diagrammatic analysis attributes this to the interaction of rotons with thermally excited phonons via both four- and three-particle processes, the latter being allowed by the broken gauge symmetry of the Bose condensate. The distinct temperature dependence of the roton energy at low temperatures suggests that the net roton-phonon interaction is repulsive.