Abstract
A detailed investigation of vortex nucleation in He II containing traces of isotopic impurity is reported. Systematic measurements of the nucleation rate due to negative ions were made at 23 bars. A model is proposed which, when fitted to the data, implies that a single atom trapped on the surface of the ion has the dual effect of reducing the critical velocity for vortex nucleation by circa 4 m , while simultaneously increasing the corresponding rate constant by a factor of circa .
- Received 27 December 1983
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.52.659
©1984 American Physical Society