Nonsuperfluid origin of the nonclassical rotational inertia in a bulk sample of solid 4He

John D Reppy1

  • 1Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2501, USA. jdr13@cornell.edu

Physical Review Letters
|September 28, 2010
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

Rotation of Asymmetric Top01:11

Rotation of Asymmetric Top

By definition, a spherically symmetric body has the same moment of inertia about any axis passing through its center of mass. This situation changes if there is no spherical symmetry. Since most rigid bodies are not spherically symmetric, these require special treatment.
The relationship between the angular momentum of any rigid body and its angular velocity, both of which are vectors, involves the moment of inertia. The moment of inertia is a scalar quantity only for spherically symmetric...
Moment of Inertia01:14

Moment of Inertia

The comparability between linear and angular velocities, linear and angular accelerations, and the kinematic equations of translational and rotational motion can be extended to the concept of inertia.
If a rigid body is rotating about an axis but is not in translational motion, its translational kinetic energy is zero. However, since each particle undergoes rotational motion, it possesses non-zero velocity and kinetic energy. Thus, the kinetic energy of the rigid body, which is the sum of the...
Angular Momentum and Principle Axes of Inertia01:09

Angular Momentum and Principle Axes of Inertia

The concept of angular momentum for a solid structure is illustrated as the cumulative result of the cross-product of the position vector of the mass element and the cross-product of the body's angular velocity with the position vector.
To put this equation into simpler terms, it can be reconfigured using rectangular coordinates. This involves choosing an alternative set of XYZ axes that are arbitrarily inclined with respect to the reference frame. The process of deriving the rectangular...
Angular Momentum about an Arbitrary Axis01:11

Angular Momentum about an Arbitrary Axis

Imagine a rigid body with a mass denoted as 'm', which has its center of mass at point G and is rotating around an inertial reference frame. The angular momentum at an arbitrary point P can be calculated by taking the cross product of the position vector and linear momentum vector for each individual mass element.
The velocity of a mass element comprises its translational velocity and the relative velocity instigated by the body's rotation. Substituting the velocity equation into the angular...
Moment of Inertia and Rotational Kinetic Energy00:52

Moment of Inertia and Rotational Kinetic Energy

The rotational kinetic energy of a body is equal to half the square of its angular speed and the moment of inertia.
This relationship between the rotational kinetic energy of a body and its angular speed implies that for the same angular speed, the rotational kinetic energy is greater if its moment of inertia is greater. Thus, more work needs to be done on the body to change its rotational kinetic energy and rotate it at a specific angular speed. Hence, the moment of inertia quantifies the...
Angular Momentum: Rigid Body01:11

Angular Momentum: Rigid Body

The total angular momentum of a rigid body can be calculated using the summation of the angular momentum of all the tiny particles rotating in the same plane. Considering all the tiny particles rotating in the x-y plane, the direction of angular momentum of all such particles and that of the rigid body would be perpendicular to the plane of the rotation along the z-axis.
This calculation can get complicated when tiny particles within the rigid body are not rotating in the same plane but have...