The superfluid Reynolds number and the transition from potential flow to turbulence in superfluid $^4$He at mK temperatures

Abstract

This comment is on Phys.Rev.Lett. 144, 155302 (2015) by M.T. Reeves, T.P. Billam, B.P. Anderson, and A.S. Bradley "Identifying a superfluid Reynolds number via dynamical similarity" where a new superfluid Reynolds number is introduced. This definition is shown to be useful in the data analysis of the finite lifetime of turbulence observed with an oscillating sphere in superfluid helium at mK temperatures in a small velocity interval $\Delta v =(v-v_c)$ just above the critical velocity $v_c$. The very rapid increase of the lifetime with increasing superfluid Reynolds number is compared with the "supertransient" turbulence observed in classical pipe flow.