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D. Vrinceanu

Publications and source records attributed to D. Vrinceanu.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2022

Kinetics and Nucleation Dynamics in Ion-Seeded Atomic Clusters

The time-dependent kinetics of formation and evolution of nano-size atomic clusters is investigated and illustrated with the nucleation dynamics of ion-seed Ar$_n$H$^+$ particles. The rates of growth and degradation of Ar-atomic shells around the seed ion are inferred from Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Simulations of cluster formation have been performed with accurate quantum-mechanical binary interaction potentials. Both the nonequilibrium and equilibrium growth of Ar$_n$H$^+$ are investigated at different temperature and densities of the atomic gas and seed ions. Formation of Ar$_{n\leq 40}$ shells is the main mechanism which regulates the kinetics of nano-cluster growth and the diffusive fluctuations of the cluster size distribution. The time-evolution of the cluster intrinsic energy and cluster size distributions are analyzed at the non-thermal, quasi-equilibrium, and thermal equilibrium stages of Ar$_n$H$^+$ formation. We've determined the self-consistent model parameters for the temporal fluctuations of the cluster size and found coefficients of the diffusive growth mechanism describing the equilibrium distribution of nano-clusters. Nucleation of haze and nano-dust particles in astrophysical and atmospheric ionized gases are discussed.

physics.atm-clus↗
arXiv2020

Formation of Argon Cluster with Proton Seeding

We employ force-field molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the kinetics of nucleation to new liquid or solid phases in a dense gas of particles, seeded with ions. We use precise atomic pair interactions, with physically correct long-range behavior, between argon atoms and protons. Time-dependence of molecular cluster formation is analyzed at different proton concentration, temperature and argon gas density. The modified phase transitions with proton seeding of the argon gas are identified and analyzed. The seeding of the gas enhances the formation of nano-size atomic clusters and their aggregation. The strong attraction between protons and bath gas atoms stabilizes large nano-clusters and the critical temperature for evaporation. An analytical model is proposed to describe the stability of argon-proton droplets, and is compared with the molecular dynamics simulations.

physics.chem-ph↗
arXiv2019

Combined molecular dynamics and quantum trajectories simulation of laser-driven, collisional systems

We introduce a combined molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum trajectories (QT) code to simulate the effects of near-resonant optical fields on state-vector evolution and particle motion in a collisional system. In contrast to collisionless systems, in which the quantum dynamics of multi-level, laser-driven particles with spontaneous emission can be described with the optical Bloch equations (OBEs), particle velocities in sufficiently collisional systems change on timescales comparable to those of the laser-induced, quantum-state dynamics. These transient velocity changes can cause the time-averaged velocity dependence of the quantum state to differ from the OBE solution. We use this multiscale code to describe laser-cooling in a strontium ultracold neutral plasma. Important phenomena described by the simulation include suppression of electromagnetically induced transparencies through rapid velocity changing collisions and thermalization between cooled and un-cooled directions for anisotropic laser cooling.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2019

Efficient computation of collisional $\ell$-mixing rate coefficients in astrophysical plasmas

We present analytical expressions for direct evaluation of $\ell$-mixing rate coefficients in proton-excited hydrogen atom collisions and describe a software package for efficient numerical evaluation of the collisional rate coefficients. Comparisons between rate coefficients calculated with various levels of approximation are discussed, highlighting their range of validity. These rate coefficients are benchmarked via radio recombination lines for hydrogen, evaluating the corresponding departure coefficients from local thermal equilibrium.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2018

Theory and simulation of spectral line broadening by exoplanetary atmospheric haze

Atmospheric haze is the leading candidate for the flattening of expolanetary spectra, as it's also an important source of opacity in the atmospheres of solar system planets, satellites, and comets. Exoplanetary transmission spectra, which carry information about how the planetary atmospheres become opaque to stellar light in transit, show broad featureless absorption in the region of wavelengths corresponding to spectral lines of sodium, potassium and water. We develop a detailed atomistic model, describing interactions of atomic or molecular radiators with dust and atmospheric haze particulates. This model incorporates a realistic structure of haze particulates from small nano-size seed particles up to sub-micron irregularly shaped aggregates, accounting for both pairwise collisions between the radiator and haze perturbers, and quasi-static mean field shift of levels in haze environments. This formalism can explain large flattening of absorption and emission spectra in haze atmospheres and shows how the radiator - haze particle interaction affects the absorption spectral shape in the wings of spectral lines and near their centers. The theory can account for nearly all realistic structure, size and chemical composition of haze particulates and predict their influence on absorption and emission spectra in hazy environments. We illustrate the utility of the method by computing shift and broadening of the emission spectra of the sodium D line in an argon haze. The simplicity, elegance and generality of the proposed model should make it amenable to a broad community of users in astrophysics and chemistry.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2017

On the treatment of $\ell$-changing proton-hydrogen Rydberg atom collisions

Energy-conserving, angular momentum-changing collisions between protons and highly excited Rydberg hydrogen atoms are important for precise understanding of atomic recombination at the photon decoupling era, and the elemental abundance after primordial nucleosynthesis. Early approaches to $\ell$-changing collisions used perturbation theory for only dipole-allowed ($Δ\ell=\pm 1$) transitions. An exact non-perturbative quantum mechanical treatment is possible, but it comes at computational cost for highly excited Rydberg states. In this note we show how to obtain a semi-classical limit that is accurate and simple, and develop further physical insights afforded by the non-perturbative quantum mechanical treatment.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2015

Demonstrating Universal Scaling in Quench Dynamics of a Yukawa One-Component Plasma

The Yukawa one-component plasma (OCP) is a paradigm model for describing plasmas that contain one component of interest and one or more other components that can be treated as a neutralizing, screening background. In appropriately scaled units, interactions are characterized entirely by a screening parameter, $κ$. As a result, systems of similar $κ$ show the same dynamics, regardless of the underlying parameters (e.g., density and temperature). We demonstrate this behavior using ultracold neutral plasmas (UNP) created by photoionizing a cold ($T\le10$ mK) gas. The ions in UNP systems are well described by the Yukawa model, with the electrons providing the screening. Creation of the plasma through photoionization can be thought of as a rapid quench from $κ_{0}=\infty$ to a final $κ$ value set by the electron density and temperature. We demonstrate experimentally that the post-quench dynamics are universal in $κ$ over a factor of 30 in density and an order of magnitude in temperature. Results are compared with molecular dynamics simulations. We also demonstrate that features of the post-quench kinetic energy evolution, such as disorder-induced heating and kinetic-energy oscillations, can be used to determine the plasma density and the electron temperature.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2014

Identification of GW bursts in high noise using Padé filtering

We consider the case of highly noisy data coming from two different antennas, each data set containing a damped signal with the same frequency and decay factor but different amplitude, phase, starting point and noise. Formally, we treat the first data set as real numbers and the second one as purely imaginary and we add them together. This complex set of data is analyzed using Padé Approximations applied to its Z-transform. Complex conjugate poles are representative of the signal; other poles represent the noise and this property allows to identify the signal even in strong noise. The product of the residues of the complex conjugate poles is related to the relative phase of the signal in the two channels and is purely imaginary when the signal amplitudes are equal. Examples are presented on the detection of a fabricated gravitational wave burst received by two antennas in the presence of either white or highly colored noise.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2012

Angular momentum changing transitions in proton-Rydberg atom collisions

Collisions between electrically charged particles and neutral atoms are central for understanding the dynamics of neutral gases and plasmas in a variety of physical situaziones of terrestrial and astronomical interest. Specifically, redistribution of angular momentum states within the degenerate shell of highly excited Rydberg atoms occurs efficiently in distant collisions with ions. This process is crucial in establishing the validity of the local thermal equilibrium assumption and may also play a role in determining a precise ionization fraction in primordial recombination. We provide an accurate expression for the non-perturbative rate coefficient of collsions between protons and H(n_l) ending in a final state H(n_l'), with n being the principal quantum number and l,l' the initial and final angular momentum quantum numbers, respectively. The validity of this result is confirmed by results of classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations. Previous results, obtained by Pengelly and Seaton only for dipole-allowed transitions, l--->l+-1, overestimate the l-changing collisional rate approximately by a factor of six, and the physical origin of this overestimation is discussed.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2007

Accurate long-range coefficients for two excited like isotope He atoms: He($2 ^1P$)--He($2 ^1P$), He($2 ^1P$)--He($2 ^3P$), and He($2 ^3P$)--He($2 ^3P$)

A general formalism is used to express the long-range potential energies in inverse powers of the separation distance between two like atomic or molecular systems with $P$ symmetries. The long-range molecular interaction coefficients are calculated for the molecular symmetries $Δ$, $Π$, and $Σ$, arising from the following interactions: He($2 ^1P$)--He($2 ^1P$), He($2 ^1P$)--He($2 ^3P$), and He($2 ^3P$)--He($2 ^3P$). The electric quadrupole-quadrupole term, $C_{5}$, the van der Waals (dispersion) term $C_{6}$, and higher-order terms, $C_{8}$, and $C_{10}$, are calculated \textit{ab initio} using accurate variational wave functions in Hylleraas coordinates with finite nuclear mass effects. A comparison is made with previously published results where available.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2006

Numerical solution of perturbed Kepler problem using a split operator technique

An efficient geometric integrator is proposed for solving the perturbed Kepler motion. This method is stable and accurate over long integration time, which makes it appropriate for treating problems in astrophysics, like solar system simulations, and atomic and molecular physics, like classical simulations of highly excited atoms in external fields. The key idea is to decompose the hamiltonian in solvable parts and propagate the system according to each term. Two case studies, the Kepler atom in an uniform field and in a monochromatic field, are presented and the errors are analyzed.

physics.comp-ph↗
arXiv2006

Superradiance in ultracold Rydberg gases

Experiments in dense, ultracold gases of rubidium Rydberg atoms show a considerable decrease of the radiative excited state lifetimes compared to dilute gases. This accelerated decay is explained by collective and cooperative effects, leading to superradiance. A novel formalism to calculate effective decay times in a dense Rydberg gas shows that for these atoms the decay into nearby levels increases by up to three orders of magnitude. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment follows from this treatment of Rydberg decay behavior.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2006

Long-range interactions for He($n S$)--He$(n' S)$ and He($n S$)--He$(n' P)$

The energetically lowest five states of a helium atom are: He($1^1S$), He($2^3S$), He($2^1S$), He($2^3P$), and He($2^1P$). Long-range interaction coefficients $C_3$, $C_6$, $C_8$, $C_9$, and $C_{10}$ for all $S-S$ and $S-P$ pairs of these states are calculated precisely using correlated wave functions in Hylleraas coordinates. Finite nuclear isotope mass effects are included.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2005

Long-range interactions between a He($2 ^3S$) atom and a He($2 ^3P$) atom for like isotopes

For the interactions between a He($2 ^3S$) atom and a He($2 ^3P$) atom for like isotopes, we report perturbation theoretic calculations using accurate variational wave functions in Hylleraas coordinates of the coefficients determining the potential energies at large internuclear separations. We evaluate the coefficient $C_{3}$ of the first order resonant dipole-dipole energy and the van der Waals coefficients $C_{6}$, $C_{8}$, and $C_{10}$ for the second order energies arising from the mutual perturbations of instantaneous electric dipole, quadrupole, and octupole interactions. We also evaluate the coefficient $C_{9}$ of the leading contribution to the third order energy. We establish definitive values including treatment of the finite nuclear mass for the ${}^3$He($2 ^3S$)--${}^3$He($2 ^3P$) and ${}^4$He($2 ^3S$)--${}^4$He($2 ^3P$) interactions.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2005

The variable phase method used to calculate and correct scattering lengths

It is shown that the scattering length can be obtained by solving a Riccati equation derived from variable phase theory. Two methods of solving it are presented. The equation is used to predict how long-range interactions influence the scattering length, and upper and lower bounds on the scattering length are determined. The predictions are compared with others and it is shown how they may be obtained from secular perturbation theory.

physics.atom-ph↗