Thermodynamics of adiabatic melting of solid 4He in liquid 3He

In the cooling concept by adiabatic melting, solid 4He is converted to liquid and mixed with 3He to produce cooling power directly in the liquid phase. This method overcomes the thermal boundary resistance that conventionally limits the lowest available temperatures in the helium fluids and hence makes it possible to reach for the temperatures significantly below 100 μK. In this paper we focus on the thermodynamics of the melting process, and examine the factors affecting the lowest temperatures achievable. We show that the amount of 3He − 4He mixture in the initial state, before the melting, can substantially lift the final temperature, as its normal Fermi fluid entropy will remain relatively large compared to the entropy of superfluid 3He. We present the collection of formulas and parameters to work out the thermodynamics of the process at very low temperatures, study the heat capacity and entropy of the system with different liquid 3He, mixture, and solid 4He contents, and use them to estimate the lowest temperatures achievable by the melting process, as well as compare our calculations to the experimental saturated 3He − 4He mixture crystallization pressure data. Realistic expectations in the execution of the actual experiment are considered. Further, we study the cooling power of the process, and find the coefficient connecting the melting rate of solid 4He to the dilution rate of 3He.