Work

Experimental realization of one dimensional helium

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: As the spatial dimension is lowered, locally stabilizing interactions are reduced, leading to the emergence of strongly fluctuating phases of matter without classical analogues. Here we report on the experimental observation of a one dimensional quantum liquid of 4He using nanoengineering by confining it within a porous material preplated with a noble gas to enhance dimensional reduction. The resulting excitations of the confined 4He are qualitatively different than bulk superfluid helium, and can be analyzed in terms of a mobile impurity allowing for the characterization of the emergent quantum liquid beyond the Luttinger liquid paradigm. The low dimensional helium system offers the possibility of tuning via pressure—from weakly interacting, all the way to the super Tonks-Girardeau gas of strongly interacting hard-core particles.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30752-3

Authors: Adrian Del Maestro, Nathan S. Nichols, Timothy R. Prisk, Garfield Warren, Paul E. Sokol

Institutions: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Argonne National Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University

Language: English

Topic: Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $5,890

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Division of Materials Research