The Effect of Magnetic Impurities on Superfluid 3He in Aerogel
Abstract
The critical field for superfluid 3He in axially compressed, anisotropic silica aerogel is shown to be the result of an anisotropic distribution of magnetic impurities affecting the superfluid A phase. The critical field results from the fact that the A phase is suppressed relative to the B phase which is immune to the effects of magnetic impurities. In the absence of magnetic quasiparticle scattering in anisotropic aerogel, we find that the relative symmetry of A and B phase order parameters is the same as in isotropic aerogel, just as it is in pure superfluid 3He. These results are of potential importance for understanding unconventional superconductivity.
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