Critical temperature of the superfluid transition in bose liquids

Sergey M. Apenko

Published 1999-02-08Version 1

A phenomenological criterion for the superfluid transition is proposed, which is similar to the Lindemann criterion for the crystal melting. Then we derive a new formula for the critical temperature, relating $T_{\lambda}$ to the mean kinetic energy per particle above the transition. The suppression of the critical temperature in a sufficiently dense liquid is described as a result of the quantum decoherence phenomenon. The theory can account for the observed dependence of $T_{\lambda}$ on density in liquid helium and results in an estimate $T_{\lambda} \sim 1.1$ K for molecular hydrogen.