Few- and many-fermion systems on the verge of stability, and consisting of strongly interacting particles, appear in many areas of physics. The theoretical modeling of such systems is a very difficult problem. In this work we present a theoretical framework that is based on the rigged Hilbert space formulation. The few-body problem is solved by exact diagonalization using a basis in which bound, resonant, and non-resonant scattering states are included on an equal footing. Current experiments with ultracold atoms offer a fascinating opportunity to study universal properties of few-body systems with a high degree of control over parameters such as the external trap geometry, the number of particles, and even the interaction strength. In particular, particles can be allowed to tunnel out of the trap by applying a magnetic-field gradient that effectively lowers the potential barrier. The result is a tunable open quantum system that allows detailed studies of the tunneling mechanism. In this Paper we introduce our method and present results for the decay rate of two distinguishable fermions in a one-dimensional trap as a function of the interaction strength. In particular, we present for the first time several technical and numerical details of our approach, recently published in Lundmark et al. (Phys Rev A 91:041601, 2015). We also show results from a careful analysis of the numerical convergence.
Few- and many-fermion systems on the verge of stability, and consisting of strongly interacting particles, appear in many areas of physics. The theoretical modeling of such systems is a very difficult problem. In this work we present a theoretical framework that is based on the rigged Hilbert space formulation. The few-body problem is solved by exact diagonalization using a basis in which bound, resonant, and non-resonant scattering states are included on an equal footing. Current experiments with ultracold atoms offer a fascinating opportunity to study universal properties of few-body systems with a high degree of control over parameters such as the external trap geometry, the number of particles, and even the interaction strength. In particular, particles can be allowed to tunnel out of the trap by applying a magnetic-field gradient that effectively lowers the potential barrier. The result is a tunable open quantum system that allows detailed studies of the tunneling mechanism. In this Paper we introduce our method and present results for the decay rate of two distinguishable fermions in a one-dimensional trap as a function of the interaction strength. In particular, we present for the first time several technical and numerical details of our approach, recently published in Lundmark et al. (Phys Rev A 91:041601, 2015). We also show results from a careful analysis of the numerical convergence.
The creation of tunable open quantum systems is becoming feasible in current experiments with ultracold atoms in low-dimensional traps. In particular, the high degree of experimental control over these systems allows detailed studies of tunneling dynamics, e.g., as a function of the trapping geometry and the interparticle interaction strength. In order to address this exciting opportunity we present a theoretical framework for two-body tunneling based on the rigged Hilbert space formulation. In this approach, bound, resonant, and scattering states are included on an equal footing and we argue that the coupling of all these components is vital for a correct description of the relevant threshold phenomena. In particular, we study the tunneling mechanism for two-body systems in one-dimensional traps and different interaction regimes. We find a strong dominance of sequential tunneling of single particles for repulsive and weakly attractive systems, while there is a signature of correlated pair tunneling in the calculated many-particle flux for strongly attractive interparticle interaction.
In recent experiments, carried out at the University of Heidelberg, tunneling rates of ultracold distinguishable fermions out of an optomagnetical trap have been measured. The fermions interact by a tunable short-ranged interaction,\nand the trap is asymmetric making the trapped quantum system\neffectively one-dimensional. In this thesis, a method for calculating the energy levels and tunneling rates of one and two interacting particles out of a very general onedimensional potential well is devised. The method is based on expanding the Schrodinger equation of the system in a complex-momentum basis. This is done utilizing the so-called Berggren completeness relation. Ultimately,\nthe basis expansion leads to a complex symmetric non-Hermitian eigenvalue problem for a large, dense matrix.\nThe general method is applied to a system of trapped, ultracold fermionic atoms in a setup that closely resembles the Heidelberg experiments. The short-ranged interaction is modeled as a point-interaction, and the trap potential\nis regularized at large distances from the interesting region. The obtained energies and decay rates are contrasted to results obtained using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation. Notable differences\ncan be observed, and these may be due to insufficiency of the WKB approximation to accurately describe the system in question.
In this thesis, we study the physical properties of several ultracold few-boson systems depending on the interactions between their constituents. Nowadays, experimentally, it is possible to have great control with high precision over the geometry and the interactions between the particles, making them an excellent setup to test directly the principles of quantum mechanics. A very interesting point is to study the evolution of their properties with the number of particles. The theoretical study of these systems pretends to microscopically understand the current experimental results and give support to new experimental developments.\n\n\t\t\t\t The method that will be used is the exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian of the system. As we will see, in spite of the attempts to improve it, the method is limited by the fact that, in practice, it is only useful to study few-particle systems. The method has several advantages. First of all, one has access to both the ground and the excited states. In second place, the method is variational and converges to the exact solution as long as the Hilbert space in which we diagonalize is enlarged.\n\t\t\t\t Moreover, since we have access to the states of the system, it is possible to calculate any observable quantity of interest.\n\n\t\t\t\t First, we will study a system of spinless bosons trapped in a two-dimensional harmonic potential. The effect of the trap is to keep the system bound. It will be seen how the presence of a repulsive interaction changes the energy spectrum and other properties of the system. For instance, the density profile, which is usually measurable, and also the two-body distribution function, which is intimately related to the existence of correlations.\n\n\t\t\t\t Afterwards, the focus will be on the particular case of having only two bosons in the system interacting through a strong repulsive force. Inspired by the one-dimensional case where the fermionization phenomenon takes place in the strongly-interacting limit, we will study whether in two dimensions there is a resembling reminiscent effect. In other words, we will analyze if there are properties of the two strongly-interacting bosons in two dimensions that are like the ones of two noninteracting fermions.\n\n\t\t\t\t After that, we will tackle the localization phenomenon in a one-dimensional system that is caused by an external speckle potential that introduces disorder in the system. We will show that the localization is a robust phenomenon against repulsive contact interactions.\n\n\t\t\t\t Finally, we will study the influence of the spin-orbit coupling in a system of bosons with two possible pseudospin components, associated, for instance, to two hyperfine levels, confined in a two-dimensional harmonic trap. We will present an exhaustive analysis of the combined effects of the interaction and the spin-orbit coupling in the spectrum and the properties of the system. In particular we show the existence of a crossover in the ground state of the system susceptible to be experimentally identified.
The nature of strongly interacting Fermi gases and magnetism is one of the most important and studied topics in condensed-matter physics. Still, there are many open questions. A central issue is under what circumstances strong short-range repulsive interactions are enough to drive magnetic correlations. Recent progress in the field of cold atomic gases allows one to address this question in very clean systems where both particle numbers, interactions and dimensionality can be tuned. Here we study fermionic few-body systems in a one dimensional harmonic trap using a new rapidly converging effective-interaction technique, plus a novel analytical approach. This allows us to calculate the properties of a single spin-down atom interacting with a number of spin-up particles, a case of much recent experimental interest. Our findings indicate that, in the strongly interacting limit, spin-up and spin-down particles want to separate in the trap, which we interpret as a microscopic precursor of one-dimensional ferromagnetism in imbalanced systems. Our predictions are directly addressable in current experiments on ultracold atomic few-body systems.
The nature of strongly interacting Fermi gases and magnetism is one of the most important and studied topics in condensed-matter physics. Still, there are many open questions. A central issue is under what circumstances strong short-range repulsive interactions are enough to drive magnetic correlations. Recent progress in the field of cold atomic gases allows one to address this question in very clean systems where both particle numbers, interactions and dimensionality can be tuned. Here we study fermionic few-body systems in a one dimensional harmonic trap using a new rapidly converging effective-interaction technique, plus a novel analytical approach. This allows us to calculate the properties of a single spin-down atom interacting with a number of spin-up particles, a case of much recent experimental interest. Our findings indicate that, in the strongly interacting limit, spin-up and spin-down particles want to separate in the trap, which we interpret as a microscopic precursor of one-dimensional ferromagnetism in imbalanced systems. Our predictions are directly addressable in current experiments on ultracold atomic few-body systems.
Recent developments in experimental techniques have made it possible to use magnetic fields to tune interactions between trapped cold atoms with different spin components allowing for detailed experimental investigations of the properties of quantum mechanical few-body systems. In this thesis we investigate the properties of two-component cold atoms trapped in a harmonic oscillator potential with a zero range interaction of arbitrary strength between the different species. In the limit of infinite interaction the atoms will tend to avoid each other. This is reminiscent of the Pauli principle and we will address differences and similarities to a system of identical fermions. Exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in a harmonic oscillator basis is used to obtain the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the system and we also employ numerical methods borrowed from nuclear physics to generate effective interactions using unitary transformations. This method proves to be very effective for improving the convergence and the computation time is significantly decreased even for very strongly interacting systems.