Structure of halo and quasi-halo helium–helium–alkali trimers

We report a diffusion Monte Carlo study of A4He2 and A4He3He trimers’ structural properties, were A is one of the alkali atoms 6,7Li, 23Na, 39K, 85Rb or 133Cs. Some of them are in a pure halo state, characterized by large spatial extent and universality, while some are close to the halo limit. The theoretical analysis of these trimers enables insight on how structural properties of weakly bound systems change when approaching the halo edge. For that purpose, two-variable distributions of inter-particle separations and angles were calculated. Extreme spatial extensions of some trimers with 3He confirm their halo nature. Although all the considered systems are floppy, trimers with all bound dimer subsystems are less spread and have significantly lower percentage of quasi-linear configurations than those which have at least one unbound dimer subsystem.Postprint (author's final draft

Universality in ultradilute liquid Bose-Bose mixtures

We have studied dilute Bose-Bose mixtures of atoms with attractive interspecies and repulsive intraspecies interactions using quantum Monte Carlo methods at T=0. Using a number of models for interactions, we determine the range of validity of the universal equation of state of the symmetric liquid mixture as a function of two parameters: the s-wave scattering length and the effective range of the interaction potential. It is shown that the Lee-Huang-Yang correction is sufficient only for extremely dilute liquids with the additional restriction that the range of the potential is small enough. Based on the quantum Monte Carlo equation of state we develop a density functional which goes beyond the Lee-Huang-Yang term and use it together with the local density approximation to determine density profiles of realistic self-bound drops.Postprint (published version

Ground-state properties of weakly bound helium-alkali trimers

Weakly bound triatomic molecules consisting of two helium atoms and one alkali metal atom are studied by means of the diffusion Monte Carlo method. We determined the stability of 4He2A, 4He3HeA, and 3He2A, where A is one of the alkali atoms Li, Na, K, Rb, or Cs. Some of the trimers with 3He are predicted to be self-bound for the first time, but this is observed to be dependent on the He–A interaction potential model. In addition to the ground-state energy of the trimers, we determined their density, radial, and angular distributions. Many of them are spatially very extended, which qualifies them as quantum halo statesPostprint (author's final draft

Van der Waals five-body size-energy universality

A universal relationship between scaled size and scaled energy is explored in five-body self-bound quantum systems. The ground-state binding energy and structure properties are obtained by means of the diffusion Monte Carlo method. We use pure estimators to eliminate any residual bias in the estimation of the cluster size. Strengthening the inter-particle interaction, we extend the exploration from the halo region to classical systems. Universal scaled size-scaled energy line, which does not depend on the short-range potential details and binding strength, is found for homogeneous pentamers with interaction potentials decaying at long range predominantly as r-6. For mixed pentamers, we discuss under which conditions the universal line can approximately describe the size- energy ratio. Our data is compatible with generalized Tjon lines, which assume a linear dependence between the binding energy of the pentamers and the one of tetramers, when both are divided by the trimer energies.Postprint (published version

Elusive structure of helium trimers

Over the years many He–He interaction potentials have been developed, some very sophisticated, including various corrections beyond the Born–Oppenheimer approximation. Most of them were used to predict properties of helium dimers and trimers, examples of exotic quantum states, whose experimental study proved to be very challenging. Recently, detailed structural properties of helium trimers were measured for the first time, allowing a comparison with theoretical predictions and possibly enabling the evaluation of different interaction potentials. The comparisons already made included adjusting the maxima of both theoretical and experimental correlation functions to one, so the overall agreement between theory and experiment appeared satisfactory. However, no attempt was made to evaluate the quality of the interaction potentials used in the calculations. In this work, we calculate the experimentally measured correlation functions using both new and old potentials, compare them with experimental data and rank the potentials. We use diffusion Monte Carlo simulations at T = 0, which give within statistical noise exact results of the ground state properties. All models predict both trimers 4He3 and 4He${}_{2}{}^{3}$He to be in a quantum halo state.Postprint (author's final draft

Spin-polarized hydrogen adsorbed on the surface of superfluid He-4

The experimental realization of a thin layer of spin-polarized hydrogen H double down arrow adsorbed on top of the surface of superfluid He-4 provides one of the best examples of a stable, nearly two-dimensional(2D) quantum Bose gas. We report a theoretical study of this system using quantum Monte Carlo methods in the limit of zero temperature. Using the full Hamiltonian of the system, composed of a superfluid He-4 slab and the adsorbed H double down arrow layer, we calculate the main properties of its ground state using accurate models for the pair interatomic potentials. Comparing the results for the layer with the ones obtained for a strictly 2D setup, we analyze the departure from the 2D character when the density increases. Only when the coverage is rather small the use of a purely 2D model is justified. The condensate fraction of the layer is significantly larger than in 2D at the same surface density, being as large as 60% at the largest coverage studied. (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4843375]Postprint (published version

Universality of size-energy ratio in four-body systems

Universal relationship of scaled size and scaled energy, which was previously established for two- and three-body systems in their ground state, is examined for four-body systems, using Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We study in detail the halo region, in which systems are extremely weakly bound. Strengthening the interparticle interaction we extend the exploration all the way to classical systems. Universal size-energy law is found for homogeneous tetramers in the case of interaction potentials decaying predominantly as r-6. In the case of mixed tetramers, we also show under which conditions the universal line can approximately describe the size-energy ratio. The universal law can be used to extract ground-state energy from experimentally measurable structural characteristics, as well as for evaluation of theoretical interaction models.Postprint (published version

Dynamics of equilibration and collisions in ultradilute quantum droplets

Employing time-dependent density-functional theory, we have studied dynamical equilibration and binary head-on collisions of quantum droplets taking as a case of study droplets made of a 39K-39K Bose mixture. The phase space of collision outcomes is extensively explored by performing fully three-dimensional calculations with effective single-component Quantum Monte Carlo-based and two-component LHY-corrected mean-field functionals. We exhaustively explored the important effect—not considered in previous studies—of the initial population ratio deviating from the optimal mean-field value N2/N1=va11/a22. Both stationary and dynamical calculations indicate sensitivity to an initial nonoptimal concentration. When three-body losses (3BL) are present our two-component approach allows to theoretically address situations in which they mainly act on one of the components of the mixture. Our approach also allows to simultaneously explore the effect on the simulation of population imbalance and 3BL, which are coupled when they act.Postprint (published version

Interactions between Portland cement and sulphonated melamine formaldehyde superplasticizer and inorganic glass fibre

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Two-dimensional Spin-polarized hydrogen at zero temperature

The ground-state properties of spin polarized hydrogen H↓ in two dimensions (2D) are obtained by means of diffusion Monte Carlo calculations. Using the most accurate to date ab initio H↓–H↓ interatomic potential we have studied hydrogen gas phase, from the very dilute regime until densities above its freezing point. For very low densities, the equation of state of the gas can be described in terms of the gas parameter na2, where a is the s-wave scattering length in 2D. The solid phase in 2D has also been studied up to high pressures and the gas-solid phase transition determined using the double-tangent Maxwell construction