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Science 27 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5492, pp. 777 - 779
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5492.777
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Reports

Triple Vortex Ring Structure in Superfluid Helium II

Demosthenes Kivotides, Carlo F. Barenghi,* David C. Samuels

Superfluids such as helium II consist of two interpenetrating fluids: the normal fluid and the superfluid. The helium II vortex ring has generally been considered merely as a superfluid object, neglecting any associated motion of the normal fluid. We report a three-dimensional calculation of the coupled motion of the normal-fluid and superfluid components, which shows that the helium II vortex ring consists of a superfluid vortex ring accompanied by two coaxial normal-fluid vortex rings of opposite polarity. The three vortex rings form a coherent, dissipative structure.

Mathematics Department, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: c.f.barenghi{at}ncl.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)