Vortex states in nonrotating liquid 4He

This paper presents an analysis which indicates that in a temperatur range staring below T/sub lambda/, quantized vortices may form spontaneously in liquid 4He even if there is no macroscopic rotation. The theory is based on statistical mechanical calculations within the context of an elementary excitation model, and on the assumption that the circulation for superfluid motion is quantized. Implications of the results for thermal and scattering properties of the liquid near T/sub lambda/ are briefly discussed