2003/06/04 by J. A. Sauls, Priya Sharma
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.68.224502
published as Phys. Rev. B 68, 224502 (2003) · 7 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2003/06/04 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
When liquid 3He is impregnated into silica aerogel a solid-like layer of 3He atoms coats the silica structure. The surface 3He is in fast exchange with the liquid on NMR timescales. The exchange coupling of liquid 3He quasiparticles with the localized 3He spins modifies the scattering of 3He quasiparticles by the aerogel structure. In a magnetic field the polarization of the solid spins gives rise to a splitting of the scattering cross-section of for `up' vs. `down' spin quasiparticles, relative to the polarization of the solid 3He. We discuss this effect, as well as the effects of non-magnetic scattering, in the context of a possible splitting of the superfluid transition for \uparrow\uparrow vs. \downarrow\downarrow Cooper pairs for superfluid 3He in aerogel, analogous to the A1-A2 splitting in bulk 3He. Comparison with the existing measurements of Tc for B< 5 kG, which show no evidence of an A1-A2 splitting, suggests a liquid-solid exchange coupling of order J = 0.1 mK. Measurements at higher fields, B > 20 kG, should saturate the polarization of the solid 3He and reveal the A1-A2 splitting.