Employing hamiltonians defined by two-body embedded Gaussian orthogonal ensemble of random matrices(EGOE(2)) plus a mean-field producing one-body part, strength functions (for states defined by the one-body part) are constructed for various values of the strength of the chaos generating two-body part. Numerical calculations for six and seven fermion systems clearly demonstrate Breit-Wigner to Gaussian transition, in the chaotic domain, in strength functions as found earlier in nuclear shell model and Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model calculations.
A theory of strongly interacting Fermi systems of a few particles is developed. At high excitation energies (a few times the single-particle level spacing) these systems are characterized by an extreme degree of complexity due to strong mixing of the shell-model-based many-particle basis states by the residual two-body interaction. This regime can be described as many-body quantum chaos. Practically, it occurs when the excitation energy of the system is greater than a few single-particle level spacings near the Fermi energy. Physical examples of such systems are compound nuclei, heavy open shell atoms (e.g. rare earths) and multicharged ions, molecules, clusters and quantum dots in solids. The main quantity of the theory is the strength function which describes spreading of the eigenstates over many-particle basis states (determinants) constructed using the shell-model orbital basis. A nonlinear equation for the strength function is derived, which enables one to describe the eigenstates without diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. We show how to use this approach to calculate mean orbital occupation numbers and matrix elements between chaotic eigenstates and introduce typically statistical variables such as temperature in an isolated microscopic Fermi system of a few particles.
Embedded random matrix ensembles operating in nuclear shell model spaces, with nucleons occupying a finite set of single particle orbits and interacting via a two-body interaction, form the basis for statistical shell model. With sufficiently strong interaction, the level densities in shell model spaces take close to a Gaussian form and transition strength distributions close to a bivariate Gaussian form. In practice, partitioning via spherical configurations (
m~) and angular momentum
J (also isospin where appropriate) are essential. The resulting statistical spectroscopy or statistical shell model was applied successfully in the past in some studies of nuclear level densities, orbit occupancies,
β-decay matrix elements and so on. Going beyond these, recently it is recognized that embedded ensembles, in a better approximation, generate in-fact
q-normal form (
q=1 gives Gaussian and
q=0 Wigner's semi-circle) for density of eigenvalues, bivariate
q-normal form for transition strengths and conditional
q-normal form for strength functions. These then allow us to develop statistical shell model with
q-normal forms. These new developments in embedded ensembles and statistical shell model are briefly reviewed in this paper. Also described, using some examples, is the role of the
q parameter in generating statistical properties of general quantum many-particle systems.
A theory of strongly interacting Fermi systems of a few particles is developed.At high excitation energies (a few times the single-particle level spacing) these systems are characterized by an extreme degree of complexity due to strong mixing of the shell-model-based many-particle basis states by the residual twobody interaction.This regime can be described as many-body quantum chaos.Practically, it occurs when the excitation energy of the system is greater than a few single-particle level spacings near the Fermi energy.Physical examples of such systems are compound nuclei, heavy open shell atoms (e.g.rare earths) and multicharged ions, molecules, clusters and quantum dots in solids.The main quantity of the theory is the strength function which describes spreading of the eigenstates over many-particle basis states (determinants) constructed using the shell-model orbital basis.A nonlinear equation for the strength function is derived, which enables one to describe the eigenstates without diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix.We show how to use this approach to calculate mean orbital occupation numbers and matrix elements between chaotic eigenstates and introduce typically statistical variables such as temperature in an isolated microscopic Fermi system of a few particles.
Shell-model results for the electric quadrupole
(E2), magnetic dipole
(M1), and Gamow-Teller transition strength sums and occupation numbers are calculated using different valence spaces and compared to the embedded Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (EGOE) predictions. It is shown that transition strength sums can be considered as a new statistic able to distinguish between regular and chaotic motion. Moreover it is established that the EGOE (but not the GOE) provides the good description of the shell-model strength sums in the chaotic domain. To get this result we have studied the behavior of strength sums in order to chaos transitions generated by means of a family of Hamiltonians $H(\ensuremath{\lambda})=h(1)+\ensuremath{\lambda}V(2),$ built from realistic one- and two-body interactions.
It is shown that statistical mechanics is applicable to quantum systems with finite numbers of particles, such as complex atoms, atomic clusters, etc., where the residual two-body interaction is sufficiently strong. This interaction mixes the unperturbed shell-model basis states and produces ``chaotic'' many-body eigenstates. As a result, an interaction-induced equilibrium emerges in the system, and temperature can be introduced. However, the interaction between the particles and their finite number can lead to prominent deviations of the equilibrium occupation numbers distribution from the Fermi-Dirac shape. For example, this takes place in the cerium atom with four valence electrons, which was used to compare the theory with realistic numerical calculations.