Zero sound mode in normal liquid 3He

How heat propagates in liquid 3He

In Landau's Fermi liquid picture, transport is governed by scattering between quasi-particles. The normal liquid 3He conforms to this picture but only at very low temperature. Here, we show that the deviation from the standard behavior is concomitant with the fermion-fermion scattering time falling below the Planckian time,ℏ k B T and the thermal diffusivity of this quantum liquid is bounded by a minimum set by fundamental physical constants and observed in classical liquids. This points to collective excitations (a sound mode) as carriers of heat. We propose that this mode has a wavevector of 2kF and a mean free path equal to the de Broglie thermal length. This would provide an additional conducting channel with a T 1/2 temperature dependence, matching what is observed by experiments. The experimental data from 0.007 K to 3 K can be accounted for, with a margin of 10%, if thermal conductivity is the sum of two contributions: one by quasi-particles (varying as the inverse of temperature) and another by sound (following the square root of temperature).

Dynamic properties and the roton mode attenuation in liquid 3He: ab initio study within the self-consistent method of moments

The dynamic structure factor and the eigenmodes of density fluctuations in liquid ³He are studied using a novel non-perturbative approach. This new version of the self-consistent method of moments invokes up to nine sum rules and other exact relations, the two-parameter Shannon information entropy maximization procedure, and the ab initio path integral Monte Carlo simulations which provide necessary reliable input information on the system static properties. Detailed analysis is performed of the collective excitations dispersion relations, the modes' decrements and the static structure factor of ³He at the saturated vapour pressure. The results are compared to available experimental data by Albergamo et al. (Albergamo et al. 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 205301. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.205301)) and Fåk et al. (Fåk et al. 1994 J. Low Temp. Phys. 97, 445-487. (doi:10.1007/BF00754303)). The theory reveals a clear signature of the roton-like feature in the particle-hole segment of the excitation spectrum with a significant reduction of the roton decrement in the wavenumber range [Formula: see text]. The observed roton mode remains a well-defined collective mode even in the particle-hole band, where it is strongly damped. The existence of the roton-like mode in the bulk liquid ³He is confirmed like in other quantum fluids. The phonon branch of the spectrum is in a reasonable agreement with the same experimental data. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dynamic and transient processes in warm dense matter'.