Simulations of quantum turbulence in thermal counterflow of superfluid helium using the vortex filament method

Abstract

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to perform numerical simulations of quantum turbulence in superfluid helium in the so-called thermal counterflow. First, we verified an existing code developed by E. Varga with a few simple ex- amples and with a counterflow in a rectangular channel, where we compared the simulation results with experimental data obtained from Superfluidity Lab- oratories and other numerical simulations. Here, we also improved the code by finishing the Barnes-Hut tree algorithm, adding a low-pass filter and partially parallelized it for use in larger data center clusters. Later, we adapted the code to less common counterflow geometries, e.g. spherically symmetric counterflow where the spatial temperature distribution can also play an important role and must therefore be considered as an integral part of the simulation. 1