The behavior of a tangle of quantized vortex lines subject to uniform superfluid and normal-fluid driving velocities is investigated. The dynamical equation of the quantized vortices in the local approximation is supplemented by the assumption that when two such singularities cross, they undergo a reconnection. The properties of the dynamical equation, when combined with the assumption of homogeneity, imply numerous scaling relations, which are in fact observed experimentally. The primitive dynamical rules are utilized to perform extensive numerical simulations of the vortex tangle, using not only periodic, but also smooth-wall and rough-wall boundary conditions. All lead to the same homogeneous vortex-tangle state, although the case of periodic boundary conditions requires an additional trick to eliminate artificial features. The quantitative results obtained from these simulations are found to be in excellent absolute agreement with a large variety of experiments, including recent studies of the vortex-tangle anisotropy.

• Received 17 December 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.38.2398