An efficient method for the Quantum Monte Carlo evaluation of the static density-response function of a many-electron system

In a recent Letter we introduced Hellmann-Feynman operator sampling in diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. Here we derive, by evaluating the second derivative of the total energy, an efficient method for the calculation of the static density-response function of a many-electron system. Our analysis of the effect of the nodes suggests that correlation is described correctly and we find that the effect of the nodes can be dealt with

Compressible quantum phases from conformal field theories in 2+1 dimensions

Conformal field theories (CFTs) with a globally conserved U(1) charge Q can be deformed into compressible phases by modifying their Hamiltonian, H, by a chemical potential H -> H - \mu Q. We study 2+1 dimensional CFTs upon which an explicit S duality mapping can be performed. We find that this construction leads naturally to compressible phases which are superfluids, solids, or non-Fermi liquids which are more appropriately called `Bose metals' in the present context. The Bose metal preserves all symmetries and has Fermi surfaces of gauge-charged fermions, even in cases where the parent CFT can be expressed solely by bosonic degrees of freedom. Monopole operators are identified as order parameters of the solid, and the product of their magnetic charge and Q determines the area of the unit cell. We discuss implications for holographic theories on asymptotically AdS4 spacetimes: S duality and monopole/dyon fields play important roles in this connection.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures; (v2) small corrections and more ref

An effective theory of Feshbach resonances and many-body properties of Fermi gases

For calculating low-energy properties of a dilute gas of atoms interacting via a Feshbach resonance, we develop an effective theory in which the parameters that enter are an atom-molecule coupling strength and the magnetic moment of the molecular resonance. We demonstrate that for resonances in the fermionic systems $^{6}$Li and $^{40}$K that are under experimental investigation, the coupling is so strong that many-body effects are appreciable even when the resonance lies at an energy large compared with the Fermi energy. We calculate a number of many-body effects, including the effective mass and the lifetime of atomic quasiparticles in the gas.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, NORDITA-2003-21 C

An Active-Sterile Neutrino Transformation Solution for r-Process Nucleosynthesis

We discuss how matter-enhanced active-sterile neutrino transformation in both neutrino and antineutrino channels could enable the production of the rapid neutron capture (r-process) nuclei in neutrino-heated supernova ejecta. In this scheme the lightest sterile neutrino would be heavier than the electron neutrino and split from it by a vacuum mass-squared difference roughly between 3 and 70 eV$^2$ and vacuum mixing angle given by $\sin^2 2\theta_{es} > 10^{-4}$.Comment: 27 pages plus twelve figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Bragg Spectroscopy of Cold Atomic Fermi Gases

We propose a Bragg spectroscopy experiment to measure the onset of superfluid pairing in ultracold trapped Fermi gases. In particular, we study two component Fermi gases in the weak coupling BCS and BEC limits as well as in the strong coupling unitarity limit. The low temperature Bragg spectrum exhibits a gap directly related to the pair-breaking energy. Furthermore, the Bragg spectrum has a large maximum just below the critical temperature when the gas is superfluid in the BCS limit. In the unitarity regime, we show how the pseudogap in the normal phase leads to a significant suppression of the low frequency Bragg spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Typos corrected. Reference update

Kelvin mode of a vortex in a nonuniform Bose-Einstein condensate

In a uniform fluid, a quantized vortex line with circulation h/M can support long-wavelength helical traveling waves proportional to e^{i(kz-\omega_k t)} with the well-known Kelvin dispersion relation \omega_k \approx (\hbar k^2/2M) \ln(1/|k|\xi), where \xi is the vortex-core radius. This result is extended to include the effect of a nonuniform harmonic trap potential, using a quantum generalization of the Biot-Savart law that determines the local velocity V of each element of the vortex line. The normal-mode eigenfunctions form an orthogonal Sturm-Liouville set. Although the line's curvature dominates the dynamics, the transverse and axial trapping potential also affect the normal modes of a straight vortex on the symmetry axis of an axisymmetric Thomas-Fermi condensate. The leading effect of the nonuniform condensate density is to increase the amplitude along the axis away from the trap center. Near the ends, however, a boundary layer forms to satisfy the natural Sturm-Liouville boundary conditions. For a given applied frequency, the next-order correction renormalizes the local wavenumber k(z) upward near the trap center, and k(z) then increases still more toward the ends.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Normal Modes of a Vortex in a Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensate

A hydrodynamic description is used to study the normal modes of a vortex in a zero-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate. In the Thomas-Fermi (TF) limit, the circulating superfluid velocity far from the vortex core provides a small perturbation that splits the originally degenerate normal modes of a vortex-free condensate. The relative frequency shifts are small in all cases considered (they vanish for the lowest dipole mode with |m|=1), suggesting that the vortex is stable. The Bogoliubov equations serve to verify the existence of helical waves, similar to those of a vortex line in an unbounded weakly interacting Bose gas. In the large-condensate (small-core) limit, the condensate wave function reduces to that of a straight vortex in an unbounded condensate; the corresponding Bogoliubov equations have no bound-state solutions that are uniform along the symmetry axis and decay exponentially far from the vortex core.Comment: 15 pages, REVTEX, 2 Postscript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. A. We have altered the material in Secs. 3B and 4 in connection with the normal modes that have |m|=1. Our present treatment satisfies the condition that the fundamental dipole mode of a condensate with (or without) a vortex should have the bare frequency $\omega_\perp

On the effect of the thermal gas component to the stability of vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the stability of vortices in trapped single-component Bose-Einstein condensates within self-consistent mean-field theories--especially we consider the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov theory and its recently proposed gapless extensions. It is shown that for sufficiently repulsively interacting systems the anomalous negative-energy modes related to vortex instabilities are lifted to positive energies due to partial filling of the vortex core with noncondensed gas. Such a behavior implies that within these theories the vortex states are eventually stable against transfer of condensate matter to the anomalous core modes. This self-stabilization of vortices, shown to occur under very general circumstances, is contrasted to the predictions of the non-self-consistent Bogoliubov approximation, which is known to exhibit anomalous modes for all vortex configurations and thus implying instability of these states. In addition, the shortcomings of these approximations in describing the properties of vortices are analysed, and the need of a self-consistent theory taking properly into account the coupled dynamics of the condensate and the noncondensate atoms is emphasized.Comment: 8 page

Pygmy dipole resonance as a constraint on the neutron skin of heavy nuclei

The isotopic dependence of the isovector Pygmy dipole response in tin is studied within the framework of the relativistic random phase approximation. Regarded as an oscillation of the neutron skin against the isospin-symmetric core, the pygmy dipole resonance may place important constraints on the neutron skin of heavy nuclei and, as a result, on the equation of state of neutron-rich matter. The present study centers around two questions. First, is there a strong correlation between the development of a neutron skin and the emergence of low-energy isovector dipole strength? Second, could one use the recently measured Pygmy dipole resonance in 130Sn and 132Sn to discriminate among theoretical models? For the first question we found that while a strong correlation between the neutron skin and the Pygmy dipole resonance exists, a mild anti-correlation develops beyond 120Sn. The answer to the second question suggests that models with overly large neutron skins--and thus stiff symmetry energies--are in conflict with experiment.Comment: 16 pages with 6 figure