arXiv subjects

C. H. Schmickler

Publications and source records attributed to C. H. Schmickler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Universal physics of bound states of a few charged particles

We study few-body bound states of charged particles subject to attractive zero-range/short-range plus repulsive Coulomb interparticle forces. The characteristic length scales of the system at zero energy are set by the Coulomb length scale $D$ and the Coulomb-modified effective range $r_{\mathrm{eff}}$. We study shallow bound states of charged particles with $D\gg r_{\mathrm{eff}}$ and show that these systems obey universal scaling laws different from neutral particles. An accurate description of these states requires both the Coulomb-modified scattering length and the effective range unless the Coulomb interaction is very weak ($D\to \infty$). Our findings are relevant for bound states whose spatial extent is significantly larger than the range of the attractive potential. These states enjoy universality -- their character is independent of the shape of the short-range potential.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2019

Efimov universality with Coulomb interaction

The universal properties of charged particles are modified by the presence of a long-range Coulomb interaction. We investigate the modification of Efimov universality as a function of the Coulomb strength using the Gaussian expansion method. The resonant short-range interaction is described by Gaussian potentials to which a Coulomb potential is added. We calculate binding energies and root mean square radii for the three- and four-body systems of charged particles and present our results in a generalised Efimov plot. We find that universal features can still be discerned for weak Coulomb interaction, but break down for strong Coulomb interaction. The root-mean-square radius plateaus at increasingly smaller values for strong Coulomb interaction and the probablity distributions of the states become more concentrated inside the Coulomb barrier. As an example, we apply our universal model to nuclei with an alpha-cluster substructure. Our results point to strong non-universal contributions in that sector.

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arXiv2018

Universality and the Coulomb interaction

We study the relationship between universal effects and the Coulomb interaction. Here, we present our approach and a first illustrative example. Understanding the relationship of universality and the Coulomb interaction is important for weakly bound nuclear few-body systems. The example nucleus we study is the excited state of $^{17}$F which we model as a proton and an $^{16}$O core. We use a Gaussian potential to represent short-range forces together with a Coulomb potential. Our calculation uses the Gaussian Expansion Method (GEM), which is a variational method well-suited to our problem. We find that we need to choose the range of the Gaussian potential in addition to the potential strength that reproduces the right scattering length. We propose to fit the range of the Gaussian potential such that the effective range is reproduced. We show that this approach leads to consistent results for $^{17}$F.

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arXiv2017

Tetramer Bound States in Heteronuclear Systems

We calculate the universal spectrum of trimer and tetramer states in heteronuclear mixtures of ultracold atoms with different masses in the vicinity of the heavy-light dimer threshold. To extract the energies, we solve the three- and four-body problem for simple two- and three-body potentials tuned to the universal region using the Gaussian expansion method. We focus on the case of one light particle of mass $m$ and two or three heavy bosons of mass $M$ with resonant heavy-light interactions. We find that trimer and tetramer cross into the heavy-light dimer threshold at almost the same point and that as the mass ratio $M/m$ decreases, the distance between the thresholds for trimer and tetramer states becomes smaller. We also comment on the possibility of observing exotic three-body states consisting of a dimer and two atoms in this region and compare with previous work.

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