arXiv subjects

Aurel Bulgac

Publications and source records attributed to Aurel Bulgac.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Nuclear Energy Density Functionals: What do we really know?

We present the simplest nuclear energy density functional (NEDF) to date, determined by only 4 significant phenomenological parameters, yet capable of fitting measured nuclear masses with better accuracy than the Bethe-Weizsäcker mass formula, while also describing density structures (charge radii, neutron skins etc.) and time-dependent phenomena (induced fission, giant resonances, low energy nuclear collisions, etc.). The 4 significant parameters are necessary to describe bulk nuclear properties (binding energies and charge radii); an additional 2 to 3 parameters have little influence on the bulk nuclear properties, but allow independent control of the density dependence of the symmetry energy and isovector excitations, in particular the Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn sum rule. This Hohenberg-Kohn-style of density functional theory successfully realizes Weizsäcker's ideas and provides a computationally tractable model for a variety of static nuclear properties and dynamics, from finite nuclei to neutron stars, where it will also provide a new insight into the physics of the r-process, nucleosynthesis, and neutron star crust structure. This new NEDF clearly separates the bulk geometric properties - volume, surface, symmetry, and Coulomb energies which amount to 8MeV per nucleon or up to 2000MeV per nucleus for heavy nuclei - from finer details related to shell effects, pairing, isospin breaking, etc. which contribute at most a few MeV for the entire nucleus. Thus it provides a systematic framework for organizing various contributions to the NEDF. Measured and calculated physical observables - symmetry and saturation properties, the neutron matter equation of state, and the frequency of giant dipole resonances - lead directly to new terms not considered in current NEDF parameterizations.

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arXiv2014

Life Cycle of Superfluid Vortices and Quantum Turbulence in the Unitary Fermi Gas

The unitary Fermi gas (UFG) offers an unique opportunity to study quantum turbulence both experimentally and theoretically in a strongly interacting fermionic superfluid. It yields to accurate and controlled experiments, and admits the only dynamical microscopic description via time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) - apart from dilute bosonic gases - of the crossing and reconnection of superfluid vortex lines conjectured by Feynman in 1955 to be at the origin of quantum turbulence in superfluids at zero temperature. We demonstrate how various vortex configurations can be generated by using well established experimental techniques: laser stirring and phase imprinting. New imagining techniques demonstrated by the MIT group [Ku et al. arXiv:1402.7052] should be able to directly visualize these crossings and reconnections in greater detail than performed so far in liquid helium. We demonstrate the critical role played by the geometry of the trap in the formation and dynamics of a vortex in the UFG and how laser stirring and phase imprint can be used to create vortex tangles with clear signatures of the onset of quantum turbulence.

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arXiv2014

Quantized Superfluid Vortex Rings in the Unitary Fermi Gas

In a recent article, Yefsah et al. [Nature 499, 426 (2013)] report the observation of an unusual excitation in an elongated harmonically trapped unitary Fermi gas. After phase imprinting a domain wall, they observe oscillations almost an order of magnitude slower than predicted by any theory of domain walls which they interpret as a "heavy soliton" of inertial mass some 200 times larger than the free fermion mass or 50 times larger than expected for a domain wall. We present compelling evidence that this "soliton" is instead a quantized vortex ring by showing that the main aspects of the experiment can be naturally explained within the framework of time-dependent superfluid DFT.

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arXiv2013

Vortex Rings in a Trap

We present a simple Hamiltonian description of the dynamics of a quantized vortex ring in a trapped superfluid, compare this description with dynamical simulations, and characterize the dependence of the dynamics of the shape of the trap.

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arXiv2013

Strength of the Vortex-Pinning Interaction from Real-Time Dynamics

We present an efficient and general method to compute vortex-pinning interactions - which arise in neutron stars, superconductors, and trapped cold atoms - at arbitrary separations using real-time dynamics. This method overcomes uncertainties associated with matter redistribution by the vortex position and the related choice of ensemble that plague the typical approach of comparing energy differences between stationary pinned and unpinned configurations: uncertainties that prevent agreement in the literature on the sign and magnitude of the vortex-nucleus interaction in the crust of neutron stars. We demonstrate and validate the method with Gross-Pitaevskii-like equations for the unitary Fermi gas, and demonstrate how the technique of adiabatic state preparation with time-dependent simulation can be used to calculate vortex-pinning interactions in fermionic systems such as the vortex-nucleus interaction in the crust of neutron stars.

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arXiv2013

The temperature evolution of the shear viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas

We present an ab initio determination of the shear viscosity for the unitary Fermi gas based on finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations and the Kubo linear-response formalism. The results are confronted with the bound for the shear viscosity originating from hydrodynamic fluctuations. Assuming smoothness of the frequency dependent shear viscosity eta(omega), we show that the bound is violated in the low temperature regime and the violation occurs simultaneously with the onset of the Cooper paring in the system. In order to preserve the hydrodynamic bound in QMC eta(omega) has to possess a sharp structure located in the vicinity of zero frequency which is not resolved by an analytic continuation procedure.

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arXiv2013

Quantum Friction: Cooling Quantum Systems with Unitary Time Evolution

We introduce a type of quantum dissipation -- local quantum friction -- by adding to the Hamiltonian a local potential that breaks time-reversal invariance so as to cool the system. Unlike the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation, local quantum friction directly effects unitary evolution of the wavefunctions rather than the density matrix: it may thus be used to cool fermionic many-body systems with thousands of wavefunctions that must remain orthogonal. In addition to providing an efficient way to simulate quantum dissipation and non-equilibrium dynamics, local quantum friction coupled with adiabatic state preparation significantly speeds up many-body simulations, making the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation significantly simpler than the solution of its stationary counterpart.

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arXiv2013

Use of the Discrete Variable Representation Basis in Nuclear Physics

The discrete variable representation (DVR) basis is nearly optimal for numerically representing wave functions in nuclear physics: Suitable problems enjoy exponential convergence, yet the Hamiltonian remains sparse. We show that one can often use smaller basis sets than with the traditional harmonic oscillator basis, and still benefit from the simple analytic properties of the DVR bases which requires no overlap integrals, simply permit using various Jacobi coordinates, and admit straightforward analyses of the ultraviolet and infrared convergence properties.

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arXiv2013

Computational Nuclear Quantum Many-Body Problem: The UNEDF Project

The UNEDF project was a large-scale collaborative effort that applied high-performance computing to the nuclear quantum many-body problem. UNEDF demonstrated that close associations among nuclear physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists can lead to novel physics outcomes built on algorithmic innovations and computational developments. This review showcases a wide range of UNEDF science results to illustrate this interplay.

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arXiv2013

Cooper pairing above the critical temperature in a unitary Fermi gas

We present an ab initio determination of spin responses of the unitary Fermi gas, based on finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo calculations and the Kubo linear-response formalism. We determine the temperature dependence of the spin susceptibility and the spin conductivity. We show that both quantities exhibit suppression above the critical temperature of the superfluid to normal phase transition due to presence of the Cooper pairs. The spin diffusion transport coefficient does not display the existence of a minimum in the vicinity of the critical temperature and it drops to very low values D_s approx 0.8hbar/m in the superfluid phase. All these spin observables show a smooth and monotonic behavior with temperature when crossing the critical temperature T_c, until the Fermi liquid regime is attained at the temperature T*, where the pseudogap regime disappears.

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arXiv2013

Time-Dependent Superfluid Local Density Approximation

The time-dependent superfluid local density approximation (TDSLDA) is an extension of the Hohenberg-Kohn density functional theory (DFT) to time-dependent phenomena in superfluid fermionic systems. Unlike linear response theory, which is only valid for weak external fields, the (TDSLDA) approach allows one to study non-linear excitations in fermionic superfluids, including large amplitude collective modes, and the response to strong external probes. Even in the case of weak external fields, the (TDSLDA) approach is technically easier to implement. We will illustrate the implementation of the (TDSLDA) for the unitary Fermi gas, where dimensional arguments and Galilean invariance simplify the form of the functional, and ab initio input from (QMC) simulations fix the coefficients to quite high precision.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory and the Real-Time Dynamics of Fermi Superfluids

I describe the Time-Dependent Superfluid Local Density Approximation, which is an adiabatic extension of the Density Functional Theory to superfluid Fermi systems and their real-time dynamics. This new theoretical framework has been applied to describe a number of phenomena in cold atomic gases and nuclear collective motion: excitation of the Higgs modes in strongly interacting Fermi superfluids, generation of quantized vortices, crossing and reconnection of vortices, excitation of the superflow at velocities above the critical velocity, excitation of quantum shock waves and domain walls in the collisions of superfluid atomic clouds, excitation of collective states in nuclei.

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arXiv2012

Quantum Shock Waves and Domain Walls in the Real-Time Dynamics of a Superfluid Unitary Fermi Gas

We show that in the collision of two superfluid fermionic atomic clouds one observes the formation of quantum shock waves as discontinuities in the number density and collective flow velocity. Domain walls, which are topological excitations of the superfluid order parameter, are also generated and exhibit abrupt phase changes by $π$ and slower motion than the shock waves. The domain walls are distinct from the gray soliton train or number density ripples formed in the wake of the shock waves and observed in the collisions of superfluid bosonic atomic clouds. Domain walls with opposite phase jumps appear to collide elastically.

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arXiv2012

Superfluid Local Density Approximation: A Density Functional Theory Approach to the Nuclear Pairing Problem

I describe the foundation of a Density Functional Theory approach to include pairing correlations, which was applied to a variety of systems ranging from dilute fermions, to neutron stars and finite nuclei. Ground state properties as well as properties of excited states and time-dependent phenomena can be achieved in this manner within a formalism based on microscopic input.

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arXiv2012

The Unitary Fermi Gas: From Monte Carlo to Density Functionals

In this chapter, we describe three related studies of the universal physics of two-component unitary Fermi gases with resonant short-ranged interactions. First we discuss an ab initio auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo technique for calculating thermodynamic properties of the unitary gas from first principles. We then describe in detail a Density Functional Theory (DFT) fit to these thermodynamic properties: the Superfluid Local Density Approximation (SLDA) and its Asymmetric (ASLDA) generalization. We present several applications, including vortex structure, trapped systems, and a supersolid Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO/LOFF) state. Finally, we discuss the time-dependent extension to the density functional (TDDFT) which can describe quantum dynamics in these systems, including non-adiabatic evolution, superfluid to normal transitions and other modes not accessible in traditional frameworks such as a Landau-Ginzburg, Gross-Pitaevskii, or quantum hydrodynamics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Onset of a Pseudogap Regime in Ultracold Fermi Gases

We show, using an ab initio approach based on Quantum Monte Carlo technique, that the pseudogap regime emerges in ultracold Fermi gases close to the unitary point. We locate the onset of this regime at a value of the interaction strength corresponding to (k_{F}a)^{-1}\approx -0.05 (a - scattering length). We determine the evolution of the gap as a function of temperature and interaction strength in the Fermi gas around the unitary limit and show that our results exhibit a remarkable agreement with the recent wave-vector resolved radio frequency spectroscopy data. Our results indicate that a finite temperature structure of the Fermi gas around unitarity is more complicated and involves the presence of the phase with preformed Cooper pairs, which however do not contribute to the long range order.

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arXiv2010

Generation and Dynamics of Quantized Vortices in a Unitary Fermi Superfluid

Superfluidity and superconductivity are remarkable manifestations of quantum coherence at a macroscopic scale. The dynamics of superfluids has dominated the study of these systems for decades now, but a comprehensive theoretical framework is still lacking. We introduce a local extension of the time-dependent density functional theory to describe the dynamics of fermionic superfluids. Within this approach one can correctly represent vortex quantization, generation, and dynamics, the transition from a superfluid to a normal phase and a number of other large amplitude collective modes which are beyond the scope of two-fluid hydrodynamics, Ginzburg-Landau and/or Gross-Pitaevskii approaches. We illustrate the power of this approach by studying the generation of quantized vortices, vortex rings, vortex reconnection, and transition from a superfluid to a normal state in real time for a unitary Fermi gas. We predict the emergence of a new qualitative phenomenon in superfluid dynamics of gases, the existence of stable superfluidity when the systems are stirred with velocities significantly exceeding the nominal Landau critical velocity in these systems.

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arXiv2010

The Long Journey from Ab Initio Calculations to Density Functional Theory for Nuclear Large Amplitude Collective Motion

At present there are two vastly different ab initio approaches to the description of the the many-body dynamics: the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and the functional integral (path integral) approaches. On one hand, if implemented exactly, the DFT approach can allow in principle the exact evaluation of arbitrary one-body observable. However, when applied to Large Amplitude Collective Motion (LACM) this approach needs to be extended in order to accommodate the phenomenon of surface-hoping, when adiabaticity is strongly violated and the description of a system using a single (generalized) Slater determinant is not valid anymore. The functional integral approach on the other hand does not appear to have such restrictions, but its implementation does not appear to be straightforward endeavor. However, within a functional integral approach one seems to be able to evaluate in principle any kind of observables, such as the fragment mass and energy distributions in nuclear fission. These two radically approaches can likely be brought brought together by formulating a stochastic time-dependent DFT approach to many-body dynamics.

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