Decay of finite temperature superfluid helium-4 turbulence

A mesoscopic model of superfluid helium-4, that describes the dynamics of individual topological defects of the ground state (superfluid vortices) and their (self-consistent) interactions with its quasi-particle excitations (normal-fluid), is solved numerically in order to analyse the physics of decaying homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. The calculations predict several temporal decay regimes not present in classical turbulence decay, the corresponding superfluid and normal-fluid energy spectra, and the experimentally observed ^t-1.5 scaling for the superfluid vortex line density at large times. The results demonstrate that the origin of this scaling is the energy spent by the superfluid in order to sustain a fluctuating low Reynolds number flow in the normal-fluid, and not the locking of turbulent superfluid and normal-fluid vorticities.