Energy Loss from a Moving Vortex in Superfluid Helium

Abstract

We present measurements on both energy loss and pinning for a vortex terminating on the curved surface of a cylindrical container. We vary surface roughness, cell diameter, fluid velocity, and temperature. Although energy loss and pinning both arise from interactions between the vortex and the surface, their dependences on the experimental parameters differ, suggesting that different mechanisms govern the two effects. We propose that the energy loss stems from reconnections with a mesh of microscopic vortices that covers the cell wall, while pinning is dominated by other influences such as the local fluid velocity.