We study how interactions affect the quantum reflection of Bose-Einstein condensates. A patterned silicon surface with a square array of pillars resulted in high reflection probabilities. For incident velocities greater than 2.5 mm/s, our observations agreed with single-particle theory. At velocities below 2.5 mm/s, the measured reflection probability saturated near 60% rather than increasing towards unity as predicted by the accepted theoretical model. We extend the theory of quantum reflection to account for the mean-field interactions of a condensate which suppresses quantum reflection at low velocity. The reflected condensates show collective excitations as recently predicted.

We report the first observation of two-dimensional layer modes in both fully filled and partially filled aerogel. Using complementary high-energy resolution and high statistical precision neutron scattering instruments, and two different 87% porous aerogel samples, we show that the three-dimensional (3D) phonon-roton excitation energies and lifetimes of liquid 4He in aerogel are the same as in bulk 4He within current precision. The layer modes are the excitations that distinguish aerogel from the bulk rather than a difference in the 3D roton energy.

A simple approach for producing a high-coherent-flux X-ray beam for small-angle-scattering studies used at the Troika beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is reported. For such small-angle studies it is permissible to reduce the longitudinal coherence .length of the beam, thus increasing the energy bandpass and intensity of the beam, because there is only a small optical pathlength difference. By using mirrors and filters to cut unwanted energies from the undulator harmonic structure, a high-flux beam of >109 photons s -~ through a 5 ~tm-diameter pinhole at 8.2 keV with a bandpass of 1.3% can be produced. The coherent properties of this beam have been measured by analyzing a static speckle pattern from an aerogel sample imaged by a directly illuminated CCD camera. The speckle size and contrast are compared with the expected values based on a statistical analysis of the intensity distribution of speckle patterns obtained using partially coherent conditions. The expected widths of the spatial autocorrelation are found, but there is an apparent incoherent fraction of the beam which reduces the measured contrast. The method presented is to be used as a tool to optimize conditions for diffraction experiments using coherent X-rays.

The phase diagram of the superfluid phases of 3 He in 98% aerogel was determined in the range of pressure from 15 to 33 bars and for fields up to 3 kG using high-frequency sound. The superfluid transition in aerogel at 33.4 bars is field independent from 0 to 5 kG and shows no evidence of an A1 −A2 splitting. The first-order transition between the A and B-phases is suppressed by a magnetic field, and exhibits strong supercooling at high pressures. We show that the equilibrium phase in zero applied field is the B-phase with at most a region of A-phase < ∼ 20 µK just below Tc at a pressure of 33.4 bars. This is in contrast to pure 3 He which has a large stable region of A-phase and a polycritical point. The quadratic coefficient for magnetic field suppression of the AB-transition, ga(β), was obtained. The pressure dependence of ga(β) is markedly different from that for the pure superfluid, g0(β), which diverges at a polycritical pressure of 21 bars. We compare our results with calculations from the homogeneous scattering model for ga(β), defined in a Ginzburg-Landau theory in terms of strong-coupling parameters β. We find qualitatively good agreement with the experiment if the strong-coupling corrections are rescaled from known values of the β's for pure 3 He, reduced by the suppression of the superfluid transition temperature. The calculations indicate that the polycritical pressure in the aerogel system is displaced well above the melting pressure and out of experimental reach. We cannot account for the puzzling supercooling of the aerogel AB-transition in zero applied field within the framework of known nucleation scenarios.

An important theme that threads through many areas of current interest in condensed matter physics is the effect of randomness and disorder. Prior to the 1960s, disorder and impurities were often viewed as unavoidable nuisances that masked the true behavior of ideal systems. We have since learned that disorder itself can bring forth fascinating and often unexpected new phenomena in condensed phases of matter. (See the December 1988 special issue of PHYSICS TODAY, dedicated to disordered solids.)