Microscopic derivation of quantum fluctuations in nuclear reactions

C. Simenel, Denis Lacroix A, B. Avez

Ancona Torres

Wolfgang Weidlich

Ming-Guang Hu, Yu Liu, Matthew A. Nichols +4 more

Quantum control of reactive systems has enabled microscopic probes of underlying interaction potentials, the opening of novel reaction pathways, and the alteration of reaction rates using quantum statistics. However, extending such control to the quantum states of reaction outcomes remains challenging. In this work, we realize this goal through the nuclear spin degree of freedom, a result which relies on the conservation of nuclear spins throughout the reaction. Using resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy to investigate the products formed in bimolecular reactions between ultracold KRb molecules, we find that the system retains a near-perfect memory of the reactants nuclear spins, manifested as a strong parity preference for the rotational states of the products. We leverage this effect to alter the occupation of these product states by changing the superposition of initial nuclear spin states with an external magnetic field. The techniques demonstrated here open up the possibility to study ultracold reaction dynamics at the state-to-state level as well as quantum entanglement between reaction products.

Rudi Malfliet

Yan Shiwe

In this article, I provide a simple review on conventional methods and models on the transport phenomenon of nuclear many-body systems. By exploiting the basic idea of time-dependent projection operator, I recommend a novel method to derive the transport equation for collective motion which is embedded on the microscopic dynamics of timedependent single-particle motion. It is emphasized that the microscopic dynamics of single-particle motion should play an important role for understanding the dynamics of nuclear reaction and the synthesis mechanisms of new superheavy elements. The numerical results of energy dissipation and entropy production indicate that the collective motion passes through three stages, such as dephasing/decoherence, statistical relaxation and stationary state. The statistical relaxation is a complex anomalous diffusion process in general. With the aid of above analysis and results, a possible way to define the collective and single-particle variables for the realistic nuclear many-body systems is proposed.