On the origin of the decrease in the torsional oscillator period of solid He4

Abstract

A decrease in the rotational period observed in torsional oscillator measurements was recently taken as a possible indication of a supersolid state of helium. We reexamine this interpretation and note that the decrease in the rotation period is also consistent with a solidification of a small liquid-like component into a low-temperature glass. Such a solidification may occur by a low-temperature quench of topological defects (e.g., grain boundaries or dislocations) which we examined in an earlier work. The low-temperature glass can account for not only a monotonic decrease in the rotation period as the temperature is lowered but also explains the peak in the dissipation occurring near the transition point. Unlike the non-classical rotational inertia scenario, which depends on the supersolid fraction, the dependence of the rotational period on external parameters, e.g., the oscillator velocity, provides an alternate interpretation of the oscillator experiments. Future experiments might explore this effect.

10 pages, 3 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (9)

• Superglass Phase of Helium-four
• Disorder and the Supersolid State of Solid ${}^4$He
• Pressure-driven flow of solid helium
• Observation of non-classical rotational inertia in bulk solid 4He
• Supersolid Helium at High Pressure
• Freezing and pressure-driven flow of solid helium in Vycor
• Thermodynamics of an incommensurate quantum crystal
• Entropy of solid He4: the possible role of a dislocation glass
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Cited by in corpus (44)

• Low Temperature Shear Modulus Changes in Solid 4-He and Connection to Supersolidity
• Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in two dimensions
• Evidence for a Superglass State in Solid 4He
• A non-superfluid origin of the non-classical rotational inertia in a bulk sample of solid 4He
• Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in three dimensions
• Intrinsic and dislocation induced elastic behavior of solid helium
• Toric-boson model: Toward a topological quantum memory at finite temperature
• Observation of Mass Transport through Solid 4He
• Solid 4He and the Supersolid Phase: from Theoretical Speculation to the Discovery of a New State of Matter? A Review of the Past and Present Status of Research
• Thermal History of Solid 4He Under Oscillation
• Interplay of Rotational, Relaxational, and Shear Dynamics in Solid 4He
• Viscoelastic Behavior of Solid ${}^4$He
• Absence of Pressure-Driven Supersolid Flow at Low Frequency
• New Dissipation Relaxation Phenomenon in Oscillating Solid He-4
• Minimal Model for Disorder-induced Missing Moment of Inertia in Solid ${}^4$He
• Evidence for a High-Temperature Disorder-Induced Mobility in Solid ${}^4$He
• The glassy response of solid He-4 to torsional oscillations
• Two-level systems and mass deficit in quantum solids
• Supersolid behavior in confined geometry
• A glassy contribution to the heat capacity of hcp ${}^4$He solids
• A glass anomaly in the shear modulus of solid ${}^4$He
• Dislocation induced anomalous softening of solid helium
• Effects of ${}^3$He Impurity on Solid ${}^4$He Studied by Compound Torsional Oscillator
• Leggett's bound for amorphous solids
• Zero-point Divacancy Concentration in the Shadow Wave-Function Model for Solid 4He
• Josephson effects in one-dimensional supersolids
• Torsional oscillators and the entropy dilemma of putative supersolid He-4
• The low temperature elastic anomalies in solid helium
• Non-Classical Response from Quench-Cooled Solid Helium Confined in Porous Gold
• Excitations of amorphous solid helium
• The glassy response of double torsion oscillators in solid Helium-4
• Shear modulus in viscoelastic solid ${}^4$He
• Quantum plasticity and dislocation-induced supersolidity
• Interplay of non-linear elasticity and dislocation-induced superfluidity in solid Helium-4
• A tentative replica theory of glassy Helium 4
• Theory of Supersolids beyond Mean-Field
• Defects and glassy dynamics in solid He-4: Perspectives and current status
• Superfluid-like TO Responses in Rotating Solid Helium
• On The Mobile Behavior of Solid ${}^4$He at High Temperatures
• Generation Efficiencies for Propagating Modes in a Supersolid
• BCC vs. HCP - The Effect of Crystal Symmetry on the High Temperature Mobility of Solid ${}^4$He
• Influence of Ortho-H2 Clusters on the Mechanical Properties of Solid Para-H2
• The role of glass dynamics in the anomaly of the dielectric function of solid helium
• Off-diagonal Long-Range Order and Supersolidity in a Quantum Solid with Vacancies