Second sound resonators and tweezers as vorticity or velocity probes: Fabrication, model, and method.

An analytical model of open-cavity second sound resonators is presented and validated against simulations and experiments in superfluid helium using a new resonator design that achieves unprecedented resolution. The model incorporates diffraction, geometrical misalignments, and flow through the cavity and is validated using cavities operated up to their 20th resonance in superfluid helium. An important finding is that resonators can be optimized to selectively sense either the quantum vortex density carried by the throughflow-as typically done in the literature-or the mean velocity of the throughflow.

A local sensor for joint temperature and velocity measurements in turbulent flows.

We present the principle for a micro-sensor aimed at measuring local correlations of turbulent velocity and temperature. The operating principle is versatile and can be adapted for various types of flow. It is based on a micro-machined cantilever, on the tip of which a platinum resistor is patterned.

Experimental, numerical, and analytical velocity spectra in turbulent quantum fluid.

Turbulence in superfluid helium is unusual and presents a challenge to fluid dynamicists because it consists of two coupled, interpenetrating turbulent fluids: the first is inviscid with quantized vorticity, and the second is viscous with continuous vorticity. Despite this double nature, the observed spectra of the superfluid turbulent velocity at sufficiently large length scales are similar to those of ordinary turbulence. We present experimental, numerical, and theoretical results that explain these similarities, and illustrate the limits of our present understanding of superfluid turbulence at smaller scales.