Sound emission due to superfluid vortex reconnections

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Feb 19;86(8):1410-3. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.1410.

Abstract

By performing numerical simulations based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we make direct quantitative measurements of the sound energy released due to superfluid vortex reconnections. We show that the energy radiated expressed in terms of the loss of vortex line length is a simple function of the reconnection angle. In addition, we study the temporal and spatial distribution of the radiation and show that energy is emitted in the form of a sound pulse with a wavelength of a few healing lengths.