Vortex--Phonon Interaction

Abstract

Kelvin waves (kelvons)--helical waves on quantized vortex lines--are the normal modes of vortices in a superfluid. At zero temperature, the only dissipative channel of vortex dynamics is phonon emission. Starting with the hydrodynamic action, we derive the Hamiltonian of vortex-phonon interaction, thereby reducing the problem of the interaction of Kelvin waves with sound to inelastic elementary excitation scattering. On the basis of this formalism, we calculate the rate of sound radiation by superfluid turbulence at zero temperature and estimate the value of short-wavelength cutoff of the turbulence spectrum.