Ring vortex destabilization in supersaturated 3He-4He liquid mixtures at low temperatures

Abstract

The effect of ring vortices on the destabilization of supersaturated liquid helium mixtures at very low temperatures is investigated as a function of pressure. We have found that large ring vortices trigger the segregation of 3He at smaller values of the concentration than small ring vortices. Our calculations indicate that the existence of ring vortices in the mixture is a possible mechanism to understand the rather small degree of critical supersaturation found in the experiments.