Vortex formation and annihilation in rotating superfluid 3He-B at low temperatures

In superfluid 3He-B the damping of vortex motion varies many orders of magnitude in the currently accessible temperature range from T c to below 0.2 T c. The large variation in the dynamics switches on sequentially different processes of vortex formation as a function of temperature. These can be examined in a smooth-walled rotating cylinder in the absence of surface pinning. We provide an overview of vortex formation in spin-up and of annihilation in spin-down measurements at temperatures below the hydrodynamic transition at 0.6 T c where turbulence in the bulk volume becomes possible. Of central current interest are the very lowest temperatures at 0.2 T c where the dynamic processes reflect on the properties of the T→0 limit.