Giant viscosity enhancement in a spinpolarized Fermi liquid

1
Giant viscosity enhancement in a spin-polarized
Fermi liquid
H. Akimoto1,2, J. S. Xia2, D. Candela 3, W.J.
Mullin,3 E.D. Adams2, and N.S. Sullivan2
1 Nano-Science Joint Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako,
Saitama 351-0198, Japan 2 NHMFL High B/T
Facility Physics Department, University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 3 Physics
Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
MA 01003
Spin polarization provides a powerful tool for
investigating the quantum states of Fermi
liquids, such as degenerate electrons, ultra-cold
atoms, and 3He-4He mixtures. If the magnetic
field is sufficiently high so that the Fermi
energy is less than the splitting of the spin
states, the polarization tends exponentially to
unity as the temperature is lowered. As a result,
the s-wave scattering decreases and the viscosity
increases. In this work we measured this effect
for the first time in dilute 3He - 4He liquid
mixtures. The viscosity measured for extremely
high magnetic field/temperature conditions (B 15
T, T 2mk) for which the spin polarization
attains values greater than 99, was found to
increase by a factor of more than 500 over its
low field value.
The work at the NHMFL was supported by NHMFL
IHRP grant 5053, PI N. Sullivan, Co-PIs D.
Candela, E.D. Adams J.S. Xia

Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 095301 (2007)