Stationary convection in dilute solutions of He in superfluid He.
Two symmetric, convecting steady states have been observed in a novel cell of unity aspect ratio and studied over a range of temperature for two concentrations of (3)He in superfluid (4)He. An existing theory due to Parshin has been related to the conditions necessary for convection in this system, defining a Rayleigh number closely analogous to that of a classical one-component Bénard system. Values of this Rayleigh number at the onset of convection calculated from experimental data are found to have little temperature dependence, with an average value near that for a classical one-component fluid in this geometry. The Prandtl number is small and temperature dependent, with a smallest calculated value of 0.05.
Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093.
P A
PA
Warkentin
H J
HJ
Haucke
P
P
Lucas
J C
JC
Wheatley