Nucleus-nucleus collisions: Intrinsic motion with external correlations

A consistent treatment of the relative and intrinsic motion which goes beyond the mean-field approach allows to include the fluctuations of the time-dependent mean field for the intrinsic as well as for the relative motion. Starting with the v. Neumann equation for the total density matrix, we derive a modified equation for the intrinsic many-body density matrix. This equation is used to obtain the quantum kinetic equations for the one-body density matrix and the two-body correlator. In the time-dependent single-particle basis, the occupation numbers change in time due to a collision term originating from residual two-body interactions which account for equilibration, and due to the fluctuations of the external mean field. The relations to TDHF with collision term are discussed. Special attention is paid to the conditions for a diabatic evolution of the single-particle states and to finite size effects which play an important role to make two-body collisions operative in finite nuclei.     

Condensate fraction and momentum distribution of liquid helium

An expansion is presented which allows practical evaluation of the one-particle density matrix of the ground state of a Bose fluid in terms of its two-body, three-body, … spatial distribution functions.     

Derivation of the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation for Rotating Bose Gases

We prove that the Gross-Pitaevskii equation correctly describes the ground state energy and corresponding one-particle density matrix of rotating, dilute, trapped Bose gases with repulsive two-body interactions. We also show that there is 100% Bose-Einstein condensation. While a proof that the GP equation correctly describes non-rotating or slowly rotating gases was known for some time, the rapidly rotating case was unclear because the Bose (i.e., symmetric) ground state is not the lowest eigenstate of the Hamiltonian in this case. We have been able to overcome this difficulty with the aid of coherent states. Our proof also conceptually simplifies the previous proof for the slowly rotating case. In the case of axially symmetric traps, our results show that the appearance of quantized vortices causes spontaneous symmetry breaking in the ground state.     

Kinetic theory of hard spheres

Kinetic equations for the hard-sphere system are derived by diagrammatic techniques. A linear equation is obtained for the one-particle-one particle equilibrium time correlation function and a nonlinear equation for the one-particle distribution function in nonequilibrium. Both equations are nonlocal, noninstantaneous, and extremely complicated. They are valid for general density, since statistical correlations are taken into account systematically. This method derives several known and new results from a unified point of view. Simple approximations lead to the Boltzmann equation for low densities and to a modified form of the Enskog equation for higher densities.     

Non-Markovian Quantum Kinetics and Conservation Laws

A link between memory effects in quantum kinetic equations and nonequilibrium correlations associated with the energy conservation is investigated. In order that the energy be conserved by an approximate collision integral, the one-particle distribution function and the mean interaction energy are treated as independent nonequilibrium state parameters. The density operator method is used to derive a kinetic equation in second-order non-Markovian Born approximation and an evolution equation for the nonequilibrium quasi-temperature which is thermodynamically conjugated to the mean interaction energy. The kinetic equation contains a correlation contribution which exactly cancels the collision term in thermal equilibrium and ensures the energy conservation in nonequilibrium states. Explicit expressions for the entropy production in the non-Markovian regime and the time-dependent correlation energy are obtained.     

Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics in the general theory of relativity: II. Linear fields in a kinetic approximation

The first paper in this series introduced a new, manifestly covariant approach to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics in classical general relativity. The object of this second paper is to apply that formalism to the evolution of a collection of particles that interact via linear fields in a fixed curved background spacetime. Given the viewpoint adopted here, the fundamental objects of the theory are a many-particle distribution function, which lives in a many-particle phase space, and a many-particle conservation equation which this distribution satisfies. By viewing a composite N-particle system as interacting one- and (N ? 1)-particle subsystems, one can derive exact coupled equations for appropriately defined reduced one- and (N ? 1)-particle distribution functions. Alternatively, by treating all the particles on an identical footing, one can extract an exact closed equation involving only the one-particle distribution. The implementation of plausible assumptions, which constitute straightforward generalizations of standard non-relativistic “kinetic approximations”, then permits the formulation of an approximate kinetic equation for the one-particle distribution function. In the obvious non-relativistic limit, one recovers the well-known Vlasov-Landau equation. The explicit form for the relativistic expression is obtained for three concrete examples, namely, interactions via an electromagnetic field, a massive scalar field, and a symmetric second rank tensor field. For a large class of interactions, of which these three examples are representative, the kinetic equation will admit a relativistic Maxwellian distribution as an exact stationary solution; and, for these interactions, an H-theorem may be proved.     

Zero-Range Approximation for Two-Component Boson Systems

The hyperspherical adiabatic expansion method is combined with the zero-range approximation to derive angular Faddeev-like equations for two-component boson systems. The angular eigenvalues are solutions to a transcendental equation obtained as a vanishing determinant of a 3 × 3 matrix. The eigenfunctions are linear combinations of Jacobi functions of argument proportional to the distance between pairs of particles. We investigate numerically the influence of two-body correlations on the eigenvalue spectrum, the eigenfunctions and the effective hyperradial potential. Correlations decrease or increase the distance between pairs for effectively attractive or repulsive interactions, respectively. New structures appear for non-identical components. Fingerprints can be found in the nodal structure of the density distributions of the condensates.     

Path-Integral Approach to the Statistical Physics of One-Dimensional Random Systems

A path-integral method is extended and developed to investigate the statistical physics of one-dimensional random systems. Evaluation of the one-particle partition function and density matrix is simplified to finding a solution for a second-order ordinary differential equation. This makes it possible to obtain analytic solutions or conduct accurate numerical calculations for the random systems. With this approach, an analytical solution for the Gaussian model is obtained and the statistical physics of the Frisch–Lloyd model is studied.     

Analytic evaluation of resonating valence bond states

Expectation values of the one-particle density matrix, the Cooper-pair amplitude and the Hubbard interaction are calculated analytically within locally correlated superconducting wave functions. For weak correlations or small densities, a rapidly converging series-expansion of exact expectation values is derived, while for strong correlations a sum-rule conserving single-site approximation is developed. Explicit results for the kinetic energy of holes within resonating valence bond states are compared with corresponding Monte Carlo data. The characteristic difference between wave functions with fixed and variable particle number, respectively, is pointed out.     

Quantum Dynamics with Mean Field Interactions: a New Approach

We propose a new approach for the study of the time evolution of a factorized N-particle bosonic wave function with respect to a mean-field dynamics with a bounded interaction potential. The new technique, which is based on the control of the growth of the correlations among the particles, leads to quantitative bounds on the difference between the many-particle Schrödinger dynamics and the one-particle nonlinear Hartree dynamics. In particular the one-particle density matrix associated with the solution to the N-particle Schrödinger equation is shown to converge to the projection onto the one-dimensional subspace spanned by the solution to the Hartree equation with a speed of convergence of order 1/N for all fixed times.     

Two-body density matrix for closed s-d shell nuclei

The two-body density matrix for ⁴He,¹⁶O and ⁴⁰Ca within the Low-order approximation of the Jastrow correlation method is considered. Closed analytical expressions for the two-body density matrix, the center of mass and relative local densities and momentum distributions are presented. The effects of the short-range correlations on the two-body nuclear characteristics are investigated. Received: 11 September 1999 / Revised version: 20 December 1999     

Statistical Mechanics of Nucleosomes Constrained by Higher-Order Chromatin Structure

Eukaryotic DNA is packaged into chromatin: one-dimensional arrays of nucleosomes separated by stretches of linker DNA are folded into 30-nm chromatin fibers which in turn form higher-order structures (Felsenfeld and Groudine in Nature 421:448, 2003). Each nucleosome, the fundamental unit of chromatin, has 147 base pairs (bp) of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer (Richmond and Davey in Nature 423:145, 2003). In order to describe how chromatin fiber formation affects nucleosome positioning and energetics, we have developed a thermodynamic model of finite-size particles with effective nearest-neighbor interactions and arbitrary DNA-binding energies. We show that both one- and two-body interactions can be extracted from one-particle density profiles based on high-throughput maps of in vitro or in vivo nucleosome positions. Although a simpler approach that neglects two-body interactions (even if they are in fact present in the system) can be used to predict sequence determinants of nucleosome positions, the full theory is required to disentangle one- and two-body effects. Finally, we construct a minimal model in which nucleosomes are positioned primarily by steric exclusion and two-body interactions rather than intrinsic histone-DNA sequence preferences. The model reproduces nucleosome occupancy patterns observed over transcribed regions in living cells.     

Quality of potential harmonics expansion method for dilute Bose-Einstein condensate

We present and examine an approximate but ab initio many-body approach, viz., potential harmonics expansion method (PHEM), which includes two-body correlations for dilute Bose-Einstein condensates. Comparing the total ground state energy for three trapped interacting bosons calculated in PHEM with the exact energy, the new method is shown to be very good in the low density limit which is necessary for achieving Bose-Einstein condensation experimentally.      

Solution of the TDHF equation for atomic collisions by expanding the one-particle density matrix into gaussian matrices

The TDHF equation for the one-particle density matrix is solved by expanding the density matrix into gaussian matrices. The method is specialized to spherically symmetric problems of many-electron atoms and applied to the calculation of probabilities for excitation and ionisation of Li⁺ created by β⁻ - decay of ⁶He.     

Decomposition property of the Slater determinant

The first step in solving the atomic many-body problem is the independent-particle, or Hartree-Fock method. This leads to the formulation of the system eigenfunction in terms of a single Slater determinant (neglecting correlations). By defining a matrix, the elements of which are the one-particle Orbitals occurring in the Slater determinant, a method is developed whereby the wave function is written as a polynomial in the eigenvalues of the matrix. This method, when used in conjunction with the variational principle, reduces the arithmetic tedium usually resulting in the Hartree-Fock method. The numerical results are in agreement with the Hartree-Fock method (to within 1.5 %) and within 1.56% of the exact values for a seven electron atom.     

A First Order Generalized Thomas-Fermi Approximation for the Electron Density in Inversion Layers

An operator evaluation of the one-particle density matrix of a degenerate system of independent particles in first order with respect to the gradient of the potential developed by Macke and Rennert yields an analytic expression for the particle density. This method is extended here to potentials with an infinite step and to finite temperatures – a situation which is characteristic for inversion electrons in MIS-systems. The resulting density can be expressed as the Airy transform of the zeroth order (local density approximation). The first order yields both the tunneling into the classically forbidden region and oscillations of the density near the step of the potential. The operator evaluation of the density matrix is shown to be equivalent to solving a Schrödinger like equation. The first order density yields results for the subband structure of (100)Si inversion and accumulation layers at OK in remarkable agreement to density functional calculations of Ando.     

Universality of Short-Range Nucleon-Nucleon Correlations in Nuclei

We investigate the short-range correlations in light nuclei. The highly correlated many-body states are obtained with an explicitly correlated basis which enables us to get a precise solution of a many-body Schrödinger equation for a realistic interaction. We show two-body density distributions for the different spin-isospin channels calculated from three- and four-body states to investigate the short-range correlations between nucleon pairs. At distances below 1 fm a universal behavior is found which does not depend on the many-body states. The universality is also seen in high momentum components of the two-body momentum distributions.     

Exact matrix elements for general two-body central-force interactions,expressed as sums of products

ABSTRACT

In a manner similar to but distinct from concurrent tensor efforts in electronic structure, it is shown that the Laplace transform can serve as a generator for a sum-of-products (SOP) form that allows one to write essentially any function of distance between two particles (i.e. any central force potential) as an exact two-body matrix. In particular, exact expressions for the Coulomb, Yukawa and long-range Ewald two-body operators are evaluated in a band-limited (Sinc function) basis. The resultant exact, full-basis, SOP representations for these interaction potentials – acting in conjunction with an external harmonic confining field – are validated via comparison with energy eigenstate solutions obtained via an independent calculation based on separation of variables. The new two-body matrix representations may have substantial impact in any of the many disciplines in which pair-wise central force interactions are relevant – especially, electronic structure and dynamics.     

Three-dimensional nonlinear dynamics of thin liquid films

Using a general two-body exponential parametrization for the wave function, the Nakatsuji two-particle density equation [Phys. Rev. A 14, 41 (1976)] is transformed into a set of nonlinear algebraic equations in which the number of unknowns precisely equals the number of equations. Since the Nakatsuji two-particle density equation is equivalent to the time-independent Schrodinger equation for Hamiltonians containing up to two-body interactions, the answer to the title question is affirmative, provided the equations have solutions. Practical implications of the parametrization and possible approximation schemes are briefly discussed.