Latest Superfluid Stories

JPL -- It was music to the ears of physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, when they forced liquid helium-4 through thousands of tiny holes and heard a whistling sound. Why the big fuss about an odd sound? It seems this breakthrough might eventually lead to enhanced earthquake studies and more accurate navigation systems, including the Global Positioning System (GPS). It all starts with one slippery liquid helium-4. Ultra-cold helium-4 becomes a superfluid, meaning it flows...

Berkeley -- University of California, Berkeley, physicists can now tune in to and hear normally inaudible quantum vibrations, called quantum whistles, enabling them to build very sensitive detectors of rotation or very precise gyroscopes. Hear the synchronized vibrations from a chorus of more than 4,000 nano-whistles, created when physicists pushed superfluid helium-4 though an array of nanometer-sized holes. Note that the pitch drops as the pressure drops. A quantum whistle is a peculiar...