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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
Theoretical modeling of electron mobility in superfluid (4)He
Frédéric Aitken1, Nelly Bonifaci1, Klaus von Haeften2
1G2ELab-GreEn-ER, Equipe MDE, 21 Avenue des Martyrs, CS 90624, 38031 Grenoble Cedex 1, France.
Abstract:
The Orsay-Trento bosonic density functional theory model is extended to include dissipation due to the viscous response of superfluid (4)He present at finite temperatures. The viscous functional is derived from the Navier-Stokes equation by using the Madelung transformation and includes the contribution of interfacial viscous response present at the gas-liquid boundaries. This contribution was obtained by calibrating the model against the experimentally determined electron mobilities from 1.2 K to 2.1 K along the saturated vapor pressure line, where the viscous response is dominated by thermal rotons. The temperature dependence of ion mobility was calculated for several different solvation cavity sizes and the data are rationalized in the context of roton scattering and Stokes limited mobility models. Results are compared to the experimentally observed "exotic ion" data, which provides estimates for the corresponding bubble sizes in the liquid. Possible sources of such ions are briefly discussed.
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