Phonon and roton propagation in He II under pressure

Abstract

We have studied the transition from second sound to ballistic phonon flow in He II up to pressures of 24 bar. At saturated vapor pressure the phonon-phonon scattering rate T_pp^-1≅1.7×10⁶T³ sec^-1 for T<0.6 K. At 24 bar, T_pp^-1<8×10⁴ sec^-1 for T<0.7 K. The phonon-roton scattering rate T_pr^-1 is ~10⁶ sec^-1 at 0.75 K and almost pressure independent. At 24 bar between 0.4 and 0.7 K, in addition to ballistic phonons, we observe a second pulse traveling at 16 m/sec, which we believe is the propagation of interacting rotons.