MIT researchers have discovered a phenomenon called “second sound,” where heat spreads not uniformly but in wave-like patterns, akin to sound waves in air. This occurs in hyper-cold systems, like superfluid helium, which flows without viscosity at extremely low temperatures.
The study highlights how traditional concepts of heat dispersion—where warmth simply equalizes across a medium—do not apply here. Instead, heat behaves like ripples in a pond, creating pulses that can travel through the superfluid’s structure.
The researchers employed a unique imaging technique to observe these waves and found that they travel at about 49 feet per second (15 meters per second) at 1.6 K, with variations depending on temperature and pressure. They emphasized the importance of tracking these phenomena for better understanding energy flow in materials, with potential applications in high-temperature superconductors and technologies that leverage quantum effects.
A surprising finding was that the behavior of second sound was relatively stable across different temperatures, suggesting that internal turbulence plays a key role in energy transfer. This opens new avenues for understanding energy loss in quantum liquids.
Overall, this research may lead to advancements in next-generation cooling systems and insights into cosmic phenomena, such as the energy flow in neutron stars. The study is published on Arxiv, indicating its relevance in contemporary physics discussions.
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