Condensed Matter Seminar Series

Probing the Ordered Phases of Liquid and Solid Helium Three

Douglas Osheroff

Stanford University

Tuesday Sep 14,  3:00 pm,  Room 298,  Physics Building

Abstract:  The ordered phases of solid and liquid 3He are in many ways quite remarkable, but they only exist within a very narrow temperature range close to  absolute zero. In order to understand the nature of these ordered states, it was necessary to fully utilize the new physical properties which they exhibit.  Fortunately, both the solid and liquid ordered states exhibit some rather unique properties that depend  critically on the nature of that order, and in each case two ordered states can be stabilized by either temperature or magnetic field. I will describe some of the techniques which were used to understand the ordering, and show some of the remarkable behavior which they exhibit.