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arXiv:2101.05969 · Scientific Reports

Quantum halo states in two-dimensional dipolar clusters

G. Guijarro, G. E. Astrakharchik, Jordi Boronat

Published Sep 30, 2021• 1 citation
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Abstract

A halo is an intrinsically quantum object defined as a bound state of a spatial size which extends deeply into the classically forbidden region. Previously, halos have been observed in bound states of two and less frequently of three atoms. Here, we propose a realization of halo states containing as many as six atoms. We report the binding energies, pair correlation functions, spatial distributions, and sizes of few-body clusters composed by bosonic dipolar atoms in a bilayer geometry. We find two very distinct halo structures, for large interlayer separation the halo structure is roughly symmetric and we discover an unusual highly anisotropic shape of halo states close to the unbinding threshold. Our results open avenues of using ultracold gases for the experimental realization of halos composed by atoms with dipolar interactions and containing as many as six atoms.

DOI
10.1038/s41598-021-98838-4

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In this Thesis, we report a detailed study of the ground-state properties of a set of quantum few- and many-body systems by using Quantum Monte Carlo methods. First, we introduced the Variational Monte Carlo and Diffusion Monte Carlo methods, which are the methods used in this Thesis to obtain the properties of the systems. The first systems we studied consist of few-body clusters in one-dimensional Bose-Bose and Bose-Fermi mixtures. Each mixture is formed by two different species with attractive interspecies and repulsive intraspecies contact interactions. For each mixture, we focused on the study of the dimer, tetramer, and hexamer clusters. We calculated their binding energies and unbinding thresholds. Combining these results with a three-body theory, we extracted the three-dimer scattering length close to the dimer-dimer zero crossing. For both mixtures, the three-dimer interaction turns out to be repulsive. Our results constitute a concrete proposal for obtaining a one-dimensional gas with a pure three-body repulsion. The next system analyzed consists of few-body clusters in a two-dimensional Bose-Bose mixture using two types of interactions. The first case corresponds to a bilayer of dipoles aligned perpendicularly to the planes and, in the second, we model the interactions by finite-range Gaussian potentials. We find that all the considered clusters are bound states and that their energies are universal functions of the scattering lengths, for sufficiently large attraction-to-repulsion ratios. Studying the hexamer energy close to the corresponding threshold, we discovered an effective three-dimer repulsion, which can stabilize interesting many-body phases. Once the existence of bound states in the dipolar bilayer has been demonstrated, we investigated whether halos can occur in this system. A halo state is a quantum bound state whose size is much larger than the range of the attractive interaction between the atoms that form it, showing universal ratios between energy and size. For clusters composed from three up to six dipoles, we find two very distinct halo structures. For large interlayer separation, the halo structure is roughly symmetric. However, for the deepest bound clusters and as the clusters approach the threshold, we discover an unusual shape of the halo states, highly anisotropic. Importantly, our results prove the existence of stable halo states composed of up to six particles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that halo states with such a large number of particles have been predicted and observed in a numerical simulation. The next system we studied is a two-dimensional many-body dipolar fluid confined to a bilayer geometry. We calculated the ground-state phase diagram as a function of the density and the separation between layers. 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The universality of quantum halo states enables a comparison of systems from different fields of physics, as demonstrated in two- and three-body clusters. In the present work, we studied weakly bound helium tetramers in order to test whether some of these four-body realistic systems qualify as halos. Their ground-state binding energies and structural properties were thoroughly estimated using the diffusion Monte Carlo method with pure estimators. Helium tetramer properties proved to be less sensitive on the potential model than previously evaluated trimer properties. We predict the existence of realistic four-body halo 4 He 2 3 He 2, whereas 4 He 4 and 4 He 3 3 He are close to the border and thus can be used as prototypes of quasi-halo systems. Our results could be tested by the experimental determination of the tetramers’ structural properties using a setup similar to the one developed for the study of helium trimers.

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A halo is an intrinsically quantum object defined as a bound state of a spatial size which extends deeply into the classically forbidden region. Previously, halos have been observed in bound states of two and less frequently of three atoms. Here, we propose a realization of halo states containing as many as six atoms. We report the binding energies, pair correlation functions, spatial distributions, and sizes of few-body clusters composed by bosonic dipolar atoms in a bilayer geometry. We find two very distinct halo structures, for large interlayer separation the halo structure is roughly symmetric and we discover an unusual highly anisotropic shape of halo states close to the unbinding threshold. Our results open avenues of using ultracold gases for the experimental realization of halos composed by atoms with dipolar interactions and containing as many as six atoms.
In this Thesis, we report a detailed study of the ground-state properties of a set of quantum few- and many-body systems by using Quantum Monte Carlo methods. First, we introduced the Variational Monte Carlo and Diffusion Monte Carlo methods, which are the methods used in this Thesis to obtain the properties of the systems. The first systems we studied consist of few-body clusters in one-dimensional Bose-Bose and Bose-Fermi mixtures. Each mixture is formed by two different species with attractive interspecies and repulsive intraspecies contact interactions. For each mixture, we focused on the study of the dimer, tetramer, and hexamer clusters. We calculated their binding energies and unbinding thresholds. Combining these results with a three-body theory, we extracted the three-dimer scattering length close to the dimer-dimer zero crossing. For both mixtures, the three-dimer interaction turns out to be repulsive. Our results constitute a concrete proposal for obtaining a one-dimensional gas with a pure three-body repulsion. The next system analyzed consists of few-body clusters in a two-dimensional Bose-Bose mixture using two types of interactions. The first case corresponds to a bilayer of dipoles aligned perpendicularly to the planes and, in the second, we model the interactions by finite-range Gaussian potentials. We find that all the considered clusters are bound states and that their energies are universal functions of the scattering lengths, for sufficiently large attraction-to-repulsion ratios. Studying the hexamer energy close to the corresponding threshold, we discovered an effective three-dimer repulsion, which can stabilize interesting many-body phases. Once the existence of bound states in the dipolar bilayer has been demonstrated, we investigated whether halos can occur in this system. A halo state is a quantum bound state whose size is much larger than the range of the attractive interaction between the atoms that form it, showing universal ratios between energy and size. For clusters composed from three up to six dipoles, we find two very distinct halo structures. For large interlayer separation, the halo structure is roughly symmetric. However, for the deepest bound clusters and as the clusters approach the threshold, we discover an unusual shape of the halo states, highly anisotropic. Importantly, our results prove the existence of stable halo states composed of up to six particles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that halo states with such a large number of particles have been predicted and observed in a numerical simulation. The next system we studied is a two-dimensional many-body dipolar fluid confined to a bilayer geometry. We calculated the ground-state phase diagram as a function of the density and the separation between layers. Our simulations show that the system undergoes a phase transition from a gas to a stable liquid as the interlayer distance increases. The liquid phase is stable in a wide range of densities and interlayer values. In the final part of this Thesis, we studied a system of dipolar bosons confined to a multilayer geometry formed by equally spaced two-dimensional layers. We calculated the ground-state phase diagram as a function of the density, the separation between layers, and the number of layers. The key result of our study in the dipolar multilayer is the existence of three phases: atomic gas, solid, and gas of chains, in a wide range of the system parameters. Remarkably, we find that the density of the solid phase decreases several orders of magnitude as the number of layers in the system increases. The results reported in this Thesis show that a dipolar system in a bilayer and multilayer geometries offer stable and highly controllable setups for observing interesting phases of quantum matter, such as halo states, and ultra-dilute liquids and solids. En esta Tesis, presentamos un estudio detallado de las propiedades del estado fundamental de un conjunto de sistemas cuánticos de pocos y muchos cuerpos mediante el uso de los métodos de Monte Carlo Cuántico. Primero, introducimos los métodos de Monte Carlo Variacional y Monte Carlo Difusivo que usamos en esta Tesis para obtener las propiedades de los sistemas. Los primeros sistemas que estudiamos son agregados de pocos cuerpos en mezclas unidimensionales de Bose-Bose y Bose-Fermi. Cada una de las mezclas está formada por dos especies con interacciones atractivas para interespecies y repulsivas para intraespecies. Para cada una de las mezclas nos centramos en el estudio de dímeros, tetrámeros y hexámeros. Calculamos las energías de ligadura y los valores umbrales de ruptura de los agregados. Combinando estos resultados con una teoría de tres cuerpos, extrajimos la longitud de dispersión de tres dímeros cerca del punto de ruptura dímero-dímero. Para ambas mezclas la interacción de tres dímeros resulta ser repulsiva. El siguiente sistema analizado son agregados de pocos cuerpos en una mezcla bidimensional de Bose-Bose con dos tipos de interacciones. El primer caso corresponde a una bicapa de dipolos con momentos dipolares orientados perpendicularmente a los planos y, en el segundo, modelamos las interacciones con potenciales gaussianos de rango finito. Encontramos que para relaciones de atracción-repulsión suficientemente grandes todos los agregados considerados son estados ligados y sus energías son funciones universales de las longitudes de dispersión. Estudiando la energía del hexámero cerca del punto umbral correspondiente, descubrimos una repulsión efectiva de tres dímeros, que puede estabilizar fases interesantes de muchos cuerpos. Después de demostrar la existencia de los estados ligados en la bicapa dipolar, investigamos si pueden ocurrir estados de halo en este sistema. Un estado de halo es un estado ligado cuántico cuyo tamaño es mucho mayor que el rango de la interacción atractiva entre los átomos que lo forman. Para agregados compuestos de tres hasta seis dipolos encontramos dos estructuras de halo muy distintas. Para separaciones grandes entre las capas, la estructura de halo es aproximadamente simétrica. Sin embargo, para los estados más ligados y, a medida que los agregados se acercan al punto umbral, descubrimos una estructura de halo inusual, altamente anisotrópica. Nuestros resultados demuestran la existencia de estados de halo estables compuestos de hasta seis dipolos. Hasta donde sabemos, esta es la primera vez que estados de halo con un número tan grande de partículas se predicen y observan en una simulación numérica. Después, estudiamos un fluido bidimensional dipolar de muchos cuerpos confinado a una geometría de bicapa. Calculamos el diagrama de fases del estado fundamental como función de la densidad y de la separación entre las capas. Nuestras simulaciones muestran que en el sistema ocurre una transición de fase, de un gas a un líquido a medida que se incrementa la distancia entre las capas. El líquido es estable en una región amplia de densidades y de la distancia entre las capas. En la parte final de esta Tesis se estudia un sistema de bosones dipolares confinados a una geometría multicapa formada por capas bidimensionales igualmente espaciadas. Calculamos el diagrama de fases del estado fundamental como función de la densidad, la separación entre las capas y el número de capas. Encontramos que existen tres fases: gas atómico, sólido y gas de cadenas, en una región amplia de los parámetros del sistema. La densidad del sólido disminuye varios órdenes de magnitud a medida que el número de capas en el sistema aumenta. Los resultados reportados en esta Tesis muestran que un sistema de dipolos confinados a una bicapa o multicapa ofrece configuraciones estables y altamente controlables para observar fases interesantes de materia cuántica, como estados
Quantum halos are defined as systems with dominating few-body structure and radii large compared to the sizes of the classically allowed regions. Dimensionless, universal scaling plots of radii vs. binding energies of two- and three-body systems are constructed to characterize and classify halo states. Short-range as well as long-range interactions are considered and molecular, atomic and nuclear states appear on the same plot. Specific two- and three-body systems are discussed, including Efimov states.
The ground state of weakly bound dimers and trimers with a radius extending well into the classically forbidden region is explored, with the goal to test the predicted universality of quantum halo states. The focus of the study is molecules consisting of T↓, D↓, ^{3}He, ^{4}He, and alkali atoms, where the interaction between particles is much better known than in the case of nuclei, which are traditional examples of quantum halos. The study of realistic systems is supplemented by model calculations in order to analyze how low-energy properties depend on the interaction potential. The use of variational and diffusion Monte Carlo methods enabled a very precise calculation of both the size and binding energy of the trimers. In the quantum halo regime, and for large values of scaled binding energies, all clusters follow almost the same universal line. As the scaled binding energy decreases, Borromean states separate from tango trimers.
Abstract To describe long-range behaviour of one particle removed from a few- or a many-body system, a hyperspherical cluster model has been developed. It has been applied to the ground and first excited states of helium drops with five, six, eight and ten atoms interacting via a two-body soft gaussian potential. Convergence of the hyperspherical cluster harmonics expansion is studied for binding energies, root-mean-squared radii and overlaps of the wave functions of two helium drops differing by one atom. It was shown that with increasing model space the functional form of such overlaps at large distances converges to the correct asymptotic behaviour. The asymptotic normalization coefficients that quantify the overlaps’ amplitudes in this region are calculated. It was also shown that in the first excited state one helium atom stays far apart from the rest forming a two-body molecule, or a halo. The probability of finding the halo atom in the classically-forbidden region of space depends on the definition of the latter and on the valence atom binding energy. The total norm of the overlap integrals, the spectroscopic factor, represents the number of partitions of a many-body state into a chosen state of the system with one particle removed. The spectroscopic factors have been calculated and their sum rules are discussed giving a further insight into the structure of helium drops.
The universality of quantum halo states enables a comparison of systems from different fields of physics, as demonstrated in two- and three-body clusters. In the present work, we studied weakly bound helium tetramers in order to test whether some of these four-body realistic systems qualify as halos. Their ground-state binding energies and structural properties were thoroughly estimated using the diffusion Monte Carlo method with pure estimators. Helium tetramer properties proved to be less sensitive on the potential model than previously evaluated trimer properties. We predict the existence of realistic four-body halo 4 He 2 3 He 2, whereas 4 He 4 and 4 He 3 3 He are close to the border and thus can be used as prototypes of quasi-halo systems. Our results could be tested by the experimental determination of the tetramers’ structural properties using a setup similar to the one developed for the study of helium trimers.
We report results for the ground-state energy and structural properties of small (4)He-T↓ clusters consisting of up to four T↓ and eight (4)He atoms. These results have been obtained using very well-known (4)He-(4)He and T↓- T↓ interaction potentials and several models for the (4)He- T↓ interatomic potential. All the calculations have been performed with variational and diffusion Monte Carlo methods. It takes at least three atoms to form a mixed bound state. In particular, for small clusters the binding energies are significantly affected by the precise form of the (4)He- T↓ interatomic potential but the stability limits remain unchanged. The only exception is the (4)He(2)T↓ trimer whose stability in the case of the weakest (4)He- T↓ interaction potential is uncertain while it seems stable for other potentials. The mixed trimer (4)He(T↓)(2), a candidate for the Borromean state, is not bound. All other studied clusters are stable. Some of the weakest bound clusters can be classified as quantum halo as a consequence of having high probability of being in a classically forbidden region.