Vortex reconnection in superfluid helium

A useful physical model for superfluid turbulence considers the flow to consist of a dense tangle of vortex lines which evolve and interact. It has been suggested that these vortex lines can dynamically reconnect upon close approach. Here, we consider the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation model of superfluid quantum mechanics, and use numerical simulation to study this topology changing core-scale process. Our results support the idea that vortex reconnection will occur whenever filaments come within a few core lengths of one another.