Progress on Acoustic Measurements of the Bulk Viscosity of Near-Critical Xenon (BVX)

We plan to determine the bulk viscosity of xenon 10 times closer [in reduced temperature tau = (T-Tc)/Tc] to its liquid-vapor critical point than ever before. (Tc is the critical temperature.) To do so, we must measure the dispersion and attenuation of sound at frequencies 1/100 of those used previously. In general, sound attenuation has contributions from the bulk viscosity acting throughout the volume of the xenon as well as contributions from the thermal conductivity and the shear viscosity acting within thin thermoacoustic boundary layers at the interface between the xenon and the solid walls of the resonator. Thus, we can determine the bulk viscosity only when the boundary layer attenuation is small and well understood. We present a comparison of calculations and measurements of sound attenuation in the acoustic boundary layer of xenon near its liquid-vapor critical point.