Transfer of Helium II on Glass

Abstract

KAMERLINGH ONNES¹ observed in 1922 that the surfaces of two volumes of liquid helium II, that is, helium below the λ point, in two concentric vessels adjusted themselves automatically to the same level. No further observations of this strange 'distillation' phenomenon appear to have been made in Ley den or elsewhere. Rollin², however, found that the loss from vessels containing liquid helium II is exceptionally high, and he attributed this to some effect connected with the formation of a thin layer of helium II on the inner walls of the connecting tube. This, he suggested, might be connected with the above-mentioned phenomenon. We have lately carried out experiments with various arrangements of vessels in order to reproduce the effect observed by Kamerlingh Onnes and to investigate it systematically.