Nonlocal energy transfer mechanism in three-dimensional quantum turbulence

Abstract

We investigate the kinetic energy cascade in zero-temperature quantum turbulence. Using simple theoretical arguments and unprecedented numerical simulations, we unveil an universal mechanism transferring energy directly from large to very small scales, thus bypassing the Kolmogorov-like local energy cascade and resulting in nonclassical energy spectra. This mechanism rests both on the vast separation of scales typical of superfluid helium-4 flows and on the alignment between quantum vortices and large-scale velocity gradients, in direct analogy with vortex stretching in classical flows.