SIMULATIONS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF HELIUM IN A THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY CELL

We have performed numerical simulations of the behavior in a one-dimen sional thermal conductivity cell of helium, as it is ramped through th e superfluid transition from below. The goal of the simulations is to be able to at least qualitatively, if not quantitatively, predict the behavior of helium in a reduced gravitational environment. These numer ical simulations can model helium cells with effective gravitational f ields of \a/g\ > 0 by changing the distribution of local transition te mperatures to match the desired gravitational environment. The numeric al results for the simulated behavior show excellent qualitative agree ment with the observed experimental data under a variety of effective gravity values. PACS numbers: 67.40 Pm, 67.40.Kh, 02.60 Lj, 02.70 Bf.