Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review A

Ground-State Binding Energy of the He4 Trimer

T. K. Lim

Published May 1, 1973• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Through a variational calculation, the ground-state binding energy of the $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ trimer is computed using the ab initio potential of Bertoncini and Wahl. These results indicate a stable trimer bound by 0.3 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.7.1798

Related papers

Calculations and estimates of the ground state energy of helium trimers

Ludwig W. Bruch, Ian J. McGee

Variational calculations of the ground state energy of 4He trimers are reported and are compared with the Hall-Post-Stenschke lower bound on the ground state energy. The variational result for the ground state energy for a range of model pair potentials is in the range −0.05 to −0.2 K; the effect of the triplet nonadditive term is estimated to be less than 1% of the contribution of the pair potentials. A study of the variation of the ground state energy of 3 bosons with pair potential coupling constant is also reported for a Lennard-Jones and a Morse potential model. There is no bound spin 3/2 3He trimer; a lower bound is given for the ground state energy of the spin 1/2 trimer and analogy with the boson results is used to argue that the spin 1/2 trimer is probably not bound. This paper contains computational applications of formal results derived elsewhere.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Jul 1, 1973•87 citations

Variational calculation of 4 He tetramer ground and excited states using a realistic pair potential

Emiko Hiyama, M. Kamimura

We calculated the ${}^{4}$He trimer and tetramer ground and excited states with the LM2M2 potential using our Gaussian expansion method for ab initio variational calculations of few-body systems. The method has been extensively used for a variety of three-, four-, and five-body systems in nuclear physics and exotic atomic and molecular physics. The trimer (tetramer) wave function is expanded in terms of symmetric three- (four-) body Gaussian basis functions, ranging from very compact to very diffuse, without assumption of any pair correlation function. The calculated results for the trimer ground and excited states are in excellent agreement with values reported in the literature. The binding energies of the tetramer ground and excited states are obtained as 558.98 and 127.33 mK (0.93 mK below the trimer ground state), respectively. We found that precisely the same shape of the short-range correlation (${r}_{ij}\ensuremath{\lesssim}4$ \AA{}) in the dimer appears in the ground and excited states of the trimer and tetramer. The overlap function between the trimer excited state and the dimer ground state and that between the tetramer excited state and the trimer ground state are almost proportional to the dimer wave function in the asymptotic region (up to $\ensuremath{\sim}$1000 \AA{}). Also, the pair correlation functions of trimer and tetramer excited states are almost proportional to the squared dimer wave function. We then propose a model which predicts the binding energy of the first excited state of ${}^{4}$He${}_{N}$ ($N\ensuremath{\ge}3$) measured from the ${}^{4}$He${}_{N\ensuremath{-}1}$ ground state to be nearly $\frac{N}{2(N\ensuremath{-}1)}{B}_{2}$ where ${B}_{2}$ is the dimer binding energy.

arXiv:1111.4370•Physical Review A•Feb 2, 2012•58 citations

Trimer binding in two dimensions

F. Cabral, Ludwig W. Bruch

The ground state energies of loosely bound boson and fermion trimers interacting via Lennard-Jones (12,6) pair potentials in two dimensions are evaluated with variational calculations. Threshold coupling constants for self-binding are determined by extrapolation to zero binding energy. The results are used to give estimates of the binding energy of the 4He trimer and in a discussion of the ordering of dimer and trimer thresholds in two dimensions.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•May 15, 1979•24 citations

Ritz variational treatment of the 4 He trimer

S. Geltman

The 4 He trimer is treated by the Ritz variational method using trial functions whose accuracy has been tested by a similar treatment of the dimer, for which an exact solution exists. These are nodeless functions containing four nonlinear parameters that are varied to give the minimum value for the ground-state energy. Agreement with measurement is obtained for the mean bond lengths of the trimer, but there is some disagreement with other non-variational calculations of the ground-state binding energy.

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Feb 1, 2009•5 citations

Green’s function Monte Carlo calculation for the ground state of helium trimers

F. Cabral, Malvin H. Kalos

The ground state energy of weakly bound boson trimers interacting via Lennard-Jones (12,6) pair potentials is calculated using a Monte Carlo Green’s Function Method. Threshold coupling constants for self binding are obtained by extrapolation to zero binding.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Feb 1, 1981•0 citations

Helium trimers and tetramers in two dimensions and quasi-two-dimensions

Leandra Vranješ Markić, Srećko Kilić

The ground-state properties of ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ and ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ trimers and tetramers in infinite and restricted two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional (2D) space are studied. Using Monte Carlo calculation in two stages successively, simple variational Monte Carlo and diffusion Monte Carlo, we find that all trimers (except one of ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ with spin 3/2) and tetramers are bound. In infinite 2D space the binding energy of ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ trimer is $\ensuremath{-}183(1) \mathrm{mK}$ and of tetramer $\ensuremath{-}435(1) \mathrm{mK}.$ In the same environment for ${}^{3}\mathrm{He},$ using Jastrow-Feenberg-Bruch wave functions trimer (spin 1/2) is bound with $\ensuremath{-}0.013(1) \mathrm{mK}$ and tetramer with $\ensuremath{-}0.021(1) \mathrm{mK}.$ Employing in the same procedure ``dimerlike'' wave functions for ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ molecules in infinite 2D space it is discovered that trimer prefers the structure of one dimer and one separate particle while a composition of two separate dimers is preferable for tetramer. In this case binding energies are $\ensuremath{-}0.020(1) \mathrm{mK}$ for trimer and $\ensuremath{-}0.040(1) \mathrm{mK}$ for tetramer. The binding energies of mixed molecules in infinite 2D space are $\ensuremath{-}74.3(4)$ mK ${(}^{3}\mathrm{He}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{2});$ $\ensuremath{-}14(1)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{2}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He});$ $\ensuremath{-}254(4)$ mK ${(}^{3}\mathrm{He}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{3});$ $\ensuremath{-}118(2)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{2}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{2});$ $\ensuremath{-}11(1)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{3}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}).$ In holding potentials with well-adjusted parameters there is a drastic increase of binding for trimer and tetramer in both sorts of helium atoms.

Physical Review A•Apr 1, 2002•13 citations
Through a variational calculation, the ground-state binding energy of the 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He trimer is computed using the ab initio potential of Bertoncini and Wahl. These results indicate a stable trimer bound by 0.3 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K.
Variational calculations of the ground state energy of 4He trimers are reported and are compared with the Hall-Post-Stenschke lower bound on the ground state energy. The variational result for the ground state energy for a range of model pair potentials is in the range −0.05 to −0.2 K; the effect of the triplet nonadditive term is estimated to be less than 1% of the contribution of the pair potentials. A study of the variation of the ground state energy of 3 bosons with pair potential coupling constant is also reported for a Lennard-Jones and a Morse potential model. There is no bound spin 3/2 3He trimer; a lower bound is given for the ground state energy of the spin 1/2 trimer and analogy with the boson results is used to argue that the spin 1/2 trimer is probably not bound. This paper contains computational applications of formal results derived elsewhere.
We calculated the 4{}^{4}4He trimer and tetramer ground and excited states with the LM2M2 potential using our Gaussian expansion method for ab initio variational calculations of few-body systems. The method has been extensively used for a variety of three-, four-, and five-body systems in nuclear physics and exotic atomic and molecular physics. The trimer (tetramer) wave function is expanded in terms of symmetric three- (four-) body Gaussian basis functions, ranging from very compact to very diffuse, without assumption of any pair correlation function. The calculated results for the trimer ground and excited states are in excellent agreement with values reported in the literature. The binding energies of the tetramer ground and excited states are obtained as 558.98 and 127.33 mK (0.93 mK below the trimer ground state), respectively. We found that precisely the same shape of the short-range correlation (${r}_{ij}\ensuremath{\lesssim}4$ \AA{}) in the dimer appears in the ground and excited states of the trimer and tetramer. The overlap function between the trimer excited state and the dimer ground state and that between the tetramer excited state and the trimer ground state are almost proportional to the dimer wave function in the asymptotic region (up to $\ensuremath{\sim}$1000 \AA{}). Also, the pair correlation functions of trimer and tetramer excited states are almost proportional to the squared dimer wave function. We then propose a model which predicts the binding energy of the first excited state of 4{}^{4}4HeN{}_{N}N​ ($N\ensuremath{\ge}3$) measured from the 4{}^{4}4He${}_{N\ensuremath{-}1}$ ground state to be nearly $\frac{N}{2(N\ensuremath{-}1)}{B}_{2}$ where B2{B}_{2}B2​ is the dimer binding energy.
The 4 He trimer is treated by the Ritz variational method using trial functions whose accuracy has been tested by a similar treatment of the dimer, for which an exact solution exists. These are nodeless functions containing four nonlinear parameters that are varied to give the minimum value for the ground-state energy. Agreement with measurement is obtained for the mean bond lengths of the trimer, but there is some disagreement with other non-variational calculations of the ground-state binding energy.
The ground-state properties of 3He{}^{3}\mathrm{He}3He and 4He{}^{4}\mathrm{He}4He trimers and tetramers in infinite and restricted two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional (2D) space are studied. Using Monte Carlo calculation in two stages successively, simple variational Monte Carlo and diffusion Monte Carlo, we find that all trimers (except one of 3He{}^{3}\mathrm{He}3He with spin 3/2) and tetramers are bound. In infinite 2D space the binding energy of 4He{}^{4}\mathrm{He}4He trimer is $\ensuremath{-}183(1) \mathrm{mK}$ and of tetramer $\ensuremath{-}435(1) \mathrm{mK}.$ In the same environment for 3He,{}^{3}\mathrm{He},3He, using Jastrow-Feenberg-Bruch wave functions trimer (spin 1/2) is bound with $\ensuremath{-}0.013(1) \mathrm{mK}$ and tetramer with $\ensuremath{-}0.021(1) \mathrm{mK}.$ Employing in the same procedure ``dimerlike'' wave functions for 3He{}^{3}\mathrm{He}3He molecules in infinite 2D space it is discovered that trimer prefers the structure of one dimer and one separate particle while a composition of two separate dimers is preferable for tetramer. In this case binding energies are $\ensuremath{-}0.020(1) \mathrm{mK}$ for trimer and $\ensuremath{-}0.040(1) \mathrm{mK}$ for tetramer. The binding energies of mixed molecules in infinite 2D space are $\ensuremath{-}74.3(4)$ mK ${(}^{3}\mathrm{He}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{2});$ $\ensuremath{-}14(1)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{2}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He});$ $\ensuremath{-}254(4)$ mK ${(}^{3}\mathrm{He}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{3});$ $\ensuremath{-}118(2)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{2}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}{\mathrm{He}}_{2});$ $\ensuremath{-}11(1)$ mK ${(}^{3}{\mathrm{He}}_{3}{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}).$ In holding potentials with well-adjusted parameters there is a drastic increase of binding for trimer and tetramer in both sorts of helium atoms.