Almost all studies of vortex states in helium II have been concerned with either ordered vortex arrays or disordered vortex tangles. This work numerically studies what happens in the presence of both rotation (which induces order) and thermal counterflow (which induces disorder). We find a new statistically steady state in which the vortex tangle is polarized along the rotational axis. Our results are used to interpret an instability that was discovered experimentally by Swanson et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 190 (1983)] and the vortex state beyond the instability that has been unexplained until now.

• Received 22 January 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.205301