| Abstract. The analogy of superconductivity and liquid helium II has been analysed on a purely empirical basis. Frictionless transport is considered to be the fundamental phenomenon. It has been concluded that the "superconductive" electrons and the "superfluid" helium atoms from an aggregate in momentum space of zero thermal energy (z-state). The z-particles occupy a set of lowest quantum states which is separated from the thermal states by an energy gap; they have zero entropy, but an appreciable zero-point energy. The observed specific-heat anomalies are due to a lifting of z-particles over this gap. The transport phenomena are caused by a diffusion of z-particles under their zero-point momentum. This zero-point diffusion does not result in dissipation of momentum. It explains why frictionless transport is independent of the strength of external forces and explains also the critical transport rates (threshold value and film transfer). Bose-Einstein condensation fails to account for these characteristic features because it does not lead to a zero-point energy of the condensed phase. A number of experiments to test the hypothesis are suggested.
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state of aggregation
id:
1400715
