<p>This thesis is a study of the heat transfer correlations between a wire and liquid helium cooled to either 1.9 or 4.3 K. The wire resembles a part of a superconducting magnet used in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator currently being built at CERN. The magnets are cooled to 1.9 K and using helium as a coolant is very efficient, especially at extremely low temperatures since it then becomes a superfluid with an apparent infinite thermal conductivity. The cooling of the magnet is very important, since the superconducting wires need to be thermally stable.</p><p>Thermal stability means that a superconductive magnet can remain superconducting, even if a part of the magnet becomes normal conductive due to a temperature increase. This means that if heat is generated in a wire, it must be transferred to the helium by some sort of heat transfer mechanism, or along the wire or to the neighbouring wires by conduction. Since the magnets need to be superconductive for the operation of the particle accelerator, it is crucial to keep the wires cold. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the heat transfer mechanisms from the wires to the liquid helium.</p><p>The scope of this thesis was to describe the heat transfer mechanisms from a heater immersed in liquid and superfluid helium. By performing both experiments and simulations, it was possible to determine properties like heat transfer correlations, critical heat flux limits, and the differences between transient and steady-state heat flow. The measured values were in good agreement with values found in literature with a few exceptions. These differences could be due to measurement errors. A numerical program was written in Matlab and it was able to simulate the experimental temperature and heat flux response with good accuracy for a given heat generation.</p>

This thesis is a study of the heat transfer correlations between a wire and liquid helium cooled to either 1.9 or 4.3 K. The wire resembles a part of a superconducting magnet used in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator currently being built at CERN. The magnets are cooled to 1.9 K and using helium as a coolant is very efficient, especially at extremely low temperatures since it then becomes a superfluid with an apparent infinite thermal conductivity. The cooling of the magnet is very important, since the superconducting wires need to be thermally stable. Thermal stability means that a superconductive magnet can remain superconducting, even if a part of the magnet becomes normal conductive due to a temperature increase. This means that if heat is generated in a wire, it must be transferred to the helium by some sort of heat transfer mechanism, or along the wire or to the neighbouring wires by conduction. Since the magnets need to be superconductive for the operation of the particle accelerator, it is crucial to keep the wires cold. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the heat transfer mechanisms from the wires to the liquid helium. The scope of this thesis was to describe the heat transfer mechanisms from a heater immersed in liquid and superfluid helium. By performing both experiments and simulations, it was possible to determine properties like heat transfer correlations, critical heat flux limits, and the differences between transient and steady-state heat flow. The measured values were in good agreement with values found in literature with a few exceptions. These differences could be due to measurement errors. A numerical program was written in Matlab and it was able to simulate the experimental temperature and heat flux response with good accuracy for a given heat generation.

Steady state and decay of quantum turbulence generated in channel flows and detected by second sound attenuation Bc. Emil Varga Abstract Quantum turbulence is studied in superfluid 4 He under classical flow condi- tions. Turbulence is generated by a flow through a 7 × 7 mm square channel with a flow conditioner either with an additional grid or without it. The flow is generated mechanically by squeezing a stainless steel bellows. Vortex line den- sity is measured by attenuation of second sound in both steady state and decay for a range of temperatures 1.17 - 2.16 K. In the steady state, temperature- independent scaling of the vortex line density with flow velocity of the form L ∝ V 3/2 is observed. In the decay the expected late-time behaviour L ∝ t−3/2 is observed. Explanation for both of these observations is based on a quasi- classical model of quantum turbulence, that allows the extraction of the effective kinematic viscosity νeff, which approximately agree with the values available in the literature. Two models based on counterflow theory are also explored and the effect of inhomogeneous vortex line distribution on the measurement tech- nique is studied.

We have performed a study of quantum turbulence generated in oscillatory counterflow as a continuation of previous experiments on various channel flows of superfluid helium, in the form of coflow, thermal DC counterflow and pure superflow. We have investigated its development, steady state properties and temporal decay, as well as the effect of the resonant mode used to generate the turbulence at three different temperatures, 1.45 K, 1.65 K and 1.83 K. The attenuation of low amplitude second sound, orientated perpendicularly to the long axis of the resonator, was used to determine the amount of quantized vortices created. One of the main goals of this work was to characterize the critical parameters for the onset of instabilities in oscillatory counterflow and to determine their values. Decay measurements of the vortex line density allowed us to distinguish between Vinen-type and Kolmogorov- type decays of quantum turbulence.

Nonlinear dispersive partial differential equations occur in a variety of areas within mathematical physics and engineering. We study several classes of such equations, including scalar complex partial differential equations, vector partial differential equations, and finally non-local integro-differential equations. For physically interesting families of these equations, we demonstrate the existence (and, when possible, stability) of specific solutions which are relevant for applications. While multiple application areas are considered, the primary application that runs through the work would be the nonlinear dynamics of vortex filaments under a variety of physical models. For instance, we are able to determine the structure and time evolution of several physical solutions, including the planar, helical, self-similar and soliton vortex filament solutions in a quantum fluid. Properties of such solutions are determined analytically and numerically through a variety of approaches. Starting with complex scalar equations (often useful for studying two-dimensional motion), we progress through more complicated models involving vector partial differential equations and non-local equations (which permit motion in three dimensions). In many of the examples considered, the qualitative analytical results are used to verify behaviors previously observed only numerically or experimentally.

Cette thèse a pour objectif l’étude comparée de la turbulence isotherme en hélium I (HeI, fluide classique) et en hélium II (HeII, dont une partie du fluide est inviscide) par une analyse lagrangienne. Les analogies et/ou différences du comportement dynamique en écoulement classique ou superfluide devraient ainsi nous renseigner sur les caractéristiques multi-échelles intrinsèques de la turbulence. Ce type de recherche, qui constituait une première mondiale en début de thèse, semble promis à un bel avenir (à titre d'exemple, des mesures similaires de suivi lagrangien en HeI/HeII, en aval d’un barreau oscillant, sont actuellement en cours à Charles Université, Prague).Nous avons opté pour l’écoulement canonique de grille oscillante car il est isotrope, sans vitesse moyenne (autorisant ainsi un temps d’observation long) et homogène par plan. Nous basons nos mesures sur la visualisation de microsphères creuses de verre, dont la densité est voisine de celle de l’hélium liquide. Cette expérience étant nouvelle, il a fallu procéder à sa conception et à son dimensionnement, à sa mise en place ainsi qu'à sa calibration. Le cryostat que l’on a conçu est entièrement en verre, permettant ainsi une observation multi-angles de l’écoulement. Le système de visualisation utilisé est basé sur l'imagerie haute cadence en éclairage "backlight" (diffusion avant). A partir de la reconstruction des trajectoires des particules, nous avons pu réaliser des analyses lagrangiennes à une particule (à un temps et à deux temps), mais aussi étudier la dispersion relative de paires de particules.La résolution spatiale et temporelle de nos mesures nous a permis de pleinement caractériser les échelles inertielles de la turbulence, tandis que les échelles sont plus marginalement résolues. Dans ces conditions, nous trouvons que les caractéristiques de la turbulence en HeI sont en accord avec les mesures de la littérature dans des écoulements similaires en fluide classique. Ce même comportement est également observé en HeII. / This thesis aims at comparing the isothermal turbulence in Helium I (HeI, classical fluid) and in Helium II (HeII, which has one inviscid component) through a Lagrangian analysis. Analogies and/or differences between the classical and superfluid behaviors are expected to shed new light on the intrinsic multi-scale properties of turbulence. This is a pioneering study, as no similar cryogenic experiment had been performed prior to this thesis, which opens a full range of possible future studies (as an example, similar measurements of Lagrangian tracking in the wake of an oscillating cylinder, are currently in progress at Charles University in Prague). We opted for an oscillating grid turbulence generation, which produces isotropic and homogeneous (per plane) turbulence, with no mean velocity (hence allowing longer observation times). As tracers we use hollow glass microspheres, which are almost neutrally buoyant in liquid Helium. This being a new facility, significant effort was dedicated to the design and the tailoring of the experiment, its implementation and the calibration of the flow. The cryostat hosting the experiment is fully transparent (made of glass), allowing visualization at multiple angles. Measurements were performed using high speed imaging in backlight illumination. Particle trajectories were reconstructed using Lagrangian tracking, from which we performed analysis of single particle statistics (single time and two times) as well as relative dispersion of pairs of particles. The spatial and temporal resolution of our measurements give us access to the dynamics of the flow at inertial scales, while dissipative scales are marginally resolved. In these conditions, we find that turbulence in HeI behaves in agreement with previous results obtained in similar flows using classical fluids. Interestingly, the same turbulence properties stands also for superfluid conditions.

When bulk helium-4 is cooled below T = 2.18 K, it undergoes a phase transition to a superfluid, characterized by a complex wave function with a macroscopic phase and exhibits inviscid, quantized flow. The macroscopic phase coherence can be probed in a container filled with helium-4, by reducing one or more of its dimensions until they are smaller than the coherence length, the spatial distance over which order propagates. As this dimensional reduction occurs, enhanced thermal and quantum fluctuations push the transition to the superfluid state to lower temperatures. However, this trend can be countered via the proximity effect, where a bulk 3-dimensional (3d) superfluid is coupled to a low (2d) dimensional superfluid via a weak link producing superfluid correlations in the film at temperatures above the Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature. Recent experiments probing the coupling between 3d and 2d superfluid helium-4 have uncovered an anomalously large proximity effect, leading to an enhanced superfluid density that cannot be explained using the correlation length alone. In this work, we have determined the origin of this enhanced proximity effect via large scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of helium-4 in a topologically non-trivial geometry that incorporates the important aspects of the experiments. We find that due to the bosonic symmetry of helium-4, identical particle permutations lead to correlations between contiguous spatial regions at a length scale greater than the coherence length. We show that quantum exchange plays a large role in explaining the anomalous experimental results while simultaneously showing how classical arguments fall short of this task.

L’étude des vortex trouve sa justification dans le rôle que ces derniers jouent dans la turbulence quantique. L’équation de Gross-Pitaevskii ne peut pas nous permettre de modéliser convenablement l’Hélium superfluide, mais on peut l’utiliser pour obtenir le paramètre d'ordre d’un superfluide modèle, ayant le maximum de propriétés en commun avec l’Hélium, notamment une courbe de dispersion identique, par la modification du terme d’interactions.En supposant que le minimum roton influence l’essentiel de la physique, on détermine la forme du paramètre d’ordre loin de la perturbation créée par le vortex rectilinéaire axisymétrique par deux approches différentes - il apparaît alors que seuls deux paramètres sont nécessaires pour caractériser entièrement le profil.Le modèle proposé par Pomeau-Rica, qui offre la possibilité d’étudier le superfluide près de la cristallisation, met en lumière l’impact de la profondeur du minimum roton sur l’amplitude des oscillations. Par comparaison avec les résultats obtenus ab initio par Reatto, les résultats donnés par le modèle de Berloff-Roberts exhibent un déphasage marqué, qui semble être une conséquence non-physique de la forme du spectre d’excitation. Les calculs énergétiques laissent à penser que les oscillations portent une faible fraction de l’énergie du vortex, l'énergie cinétique dominant.Le calcul du paramètre d’ordre est effectué pour un anneau de grande taille par rapport à la distance interatomique, à vitesse nulle et à vitesse non-nulle. La détermination des énergies potentielle et cinétique permet d’accéder à la vitesse maximale atteinte par l’anneau en fonction de son rayon et de la comparer à la vitesse critique de Landau. / Vortices study's justification lays in the fact that those former play an important part in quantum turbulence. The Gross-Pitaevskii equation can't be a proper model for superfluid helium, but we can still use it to determine the order parameter of a theoretical superfluid, which has then the maximum amount of properties in common with liquid helium, and in particular, the same dispersion relation, thus gained by modifying the interaction terms.We then make the assumption that all the physical properties of the superfluid are triggered by the existence of the roton minimum, which allows us to calculate the order parameter far from the perturbation created by an axisymmetric rectilinear vortex, using two different methods. At that point, it appears that only two parameters are needed to fully characterize vortex profil.Pomeau-Rica's model offers the possibility to study the superfluid near crystallization and reveals the influence of the roton minimum's shape and depth on oscillations' amplitude. Results are subsequently compared to those given by Reatto's ab initio calculations. In Berloff-Roberts' model, profil displays a strong phase shift, which seems to be a non-physical consequence of the dispersion relation's shape at high frequencies. Energies reckoning leads us to think that oscillations carry a small fraction of the total vortex' energy, meaning that the kinetic energy is dominant.The order parameter for a vortex ring, whose radius is much larger than the interatomic distance, is calculated at zero and nonzero speed. Potential and kinetic energies are estimated and help us obtain the maximal speed reached by such a ring, depending on its radius and finally discussed this speed in regard to the Landau critical speed.

This Thesis is devoted to the investigation of superfluid helium flows due to torsional oscillators. In its first part, flow due to a torsionally oscillating disc suspended on a tungsten filament is studied (building upon the work of A. C. Hollis Hallett from 1952). Measurements of the motion of the torsionally oscillating disc were performed in superfluid helium at temperatures between 1.265 K and 2.157 K at saturated vapour pressure. Time traces of the disc angular deflection were obtained, and critical parameters related to the turbulent flow stability were determined. In laminar flow, scaling of drag forces with the dimensionless Donnelly number was verified. Based on these results, and comparison with the original work, a scenario of the decay of turbulent flow was suggested. The second part of this work is focused on the development and construction of a similar experiment for mK temperatures. A new type of oscillator was designed, a so-called "pillbox", and a series of testing measurements was performed both at room and mK temperatures.