A Physical Model of Liquid Helium

Abstract

A new physical model of liquid He^4 based on the hypothesis that rotons behave like tiny quantized circular vortex rings is presented. It is shown that the energy of a state will not only depend on the distribution in numbers of rotons with various momenta, but also on the arrangements and orientations of the rotons. The λ-transition then can be interpreted to reveal two aspects: T_λ is both the lowest temperature at which all helium atoms partake in excitation, and the point of the initiation of the general destruction of order, i.e. the general randomization of the orientation of the rotons. Other implications from the theory are also discussed.