Fate of Vacancy-Induced Supersolidity in 4He

Authors

M Boninsegni
A Kuklov
L Pollet
Nikolai Prokof'ev, University of Massachusetts - AmherstFollow
Boris Svistunov, University of Massachusetts - AmherstFollow
M Troyer

Publication Date

2006

Journal or Book Title

Physics Review Letters

Abstract

The supersolid state of matter, exhibiting nondissipative flow in solids, has been elusive for 35 years. The recent discovery of a nonclassical moment of inertia in solid 4He by Kim and Chan provided the first experimental evidence, although the interpretation in terms of supersolidity of the ideal crystal phase remains a subject to debate. Using quantum Monte Carlo methods we investigate the long-standing question of vacancy-induced superflow and find that vacancies in a 4He crystal phase separate instead of forming a supersolid. On the other hand, nonequilibrium vacancies relaxing on defects of polycrystalline samples could provide an explanation for the experimental observations.

Comments

This is the pre-published version harvested from ArXiv. The published version is located at http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v97/i8/e080401

Volume

97

Issue

8

Recommended Citation

Boninsegni, M; Kuklov, A; Pollet, L; Prokof'ev, Nikolai; Svistunov, Boris; and Troyer, M, "Fate of Vacancy-Induced Supersolidity in 4He" (2006). Physics Review Letters. 1148.
Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/physics_faculty_pubs/1148