Dynamics of the vortex line density in superfluid counterflow turbulence

Abstract

Describing superfluid turbulence at intermediate scales between the inter-vortex distance and the macroscale requires an acceptable equation of motion for the density of quantized vortex lines $\cal{L}$. The closure of such an equation for superfluid inhomogeneous flows requires additional inputs besides $\cal{L}$ and the normal and superfluid velocity fields. In this paper we offer a minimal closure using one additional anisotropy parameter $I_{l0}$. Using the example of counterflow superfluid turbulence we derive two coupled closure equations for the vortex line density and the anisotropy parameter $I_{l0}$ with an input of the normal and superfluid velocity fields. The various closure assumptions and the predictions of the resulting theory are tested against numerical simulations.