arXiv subjects

J. Main

Publications and source records attributed to J. Main.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2013

Spectral singularities in PT-symmetric Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider the model of a PT-symmetric Bose-Einstein condensate in a delta-functions double-well potential. We demonstrate that analytic continuation of the primarily non-analytic term |psi|^2 psi - occurring in the underlying Gross-Pitaevskii equation - yields new branch points where three levels coalesce. We show numerically that the new branch points exhibit the behaviour of exceptional points of second and third order. A matrix model which confirms the numerical findings in analytic terms is given.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

A nonlinear dynamics approach to Bogoliubov excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates

We assume the macroscopic wave function of a Bose-Einstein condensate as a superposition of Gaussian wave packets, with time-dependent complex width parameters, insert it into the mean-field energy functional corresponding to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) and apply the time-dependent variational principle. In this way the GPE is mapped onto a system of coupled equations of motion for the complex width parameters, which can be analyzed using the methods of nonlinear dynamics. We perform a stability analysis of the fixed points of the nonlinear system, and demonstrate that the eigenvalues of the Jacobian reproduce the low-lying quantum mechanical Bogoliubov excitation spectrum of a condensate in an axisymmetric trap.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Fictitious time wave packet dynamics: II. Hydrogen atom in external fields

In the preceding paper [T. Fabcic et al., preprint] "restricted Gaussian wave packets" were introduced for the regularized Coulomb problem in the four-dimensional Kustaanheimo-Stiefel coordinates, and their exact time propagation was derived analytically in a fictitious time variable. We now establish the Gaussian wave packet method for the hydrogen atom in static external fields. A superposition of restricted Gaussian wave packets is used as a trial function in the application of the time-dependent variational principle. The external fields introduce couplings between the basis states. The set of coupled wave packets is propagated numerically, and eigenvalues of the Schrodinger equation are obtained by the frequency analysis of the time autocorrelation function. The advantage of the wave packet propagation in the fictitious time variable is that the computations are exact for the field-free hydrogen atom and approximations from the time-dependent variational principle only stem from the external fields. Examples are presented for the hydrogen atom in a magnetic field and in crossed electric and magnetic fields.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2009

Fictitious time wave packet dynamics: I. Nondispersive wave packets in the quantum Coulomb problem

Nondispersive wave packets in a fictitious time variable are calculated analytically for the field-free hydrogen atom. As is well known by means of the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation the Coulomb problem can be converted into that of a four-dimensional harmonic oscillator, subject to a constraint. This regularization makes use of a fictitious time variable, but arbitrary Gaussian wave packets in that time variable in general violate that constraint. The set of "restricted Gaussian wave packets" consistent with the constraint is constructed and shown to provide a complete basis for the expansion of states in the original three-dimensional coordinate space. Using that expansion arbitrary localized Gaussian wave packets of the hydrogen atom can be propagated analytically, and exhibit a nondispersive periodic behavior as functions of the fictitious time. Restricted wave packets with and without well defined angular momentum quantum n umbers are constructed. They will be used as trial functions in time-dependent variational computations for the hydrogen atom in static external fields in the subsequent paper [T. Fabčič et al., submitted].

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2008

Nonlinear Dynamics of Bose-Einstein Condensates with Long-Range Interactions

The motto of this paper is: Let's face Bose-Einstein condensation through nonlinear dynamics. We do this by choosing variational forms of the condensate wave functions (of given symmetry classes), which convert the Bose-Einstein condensates via the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation into Hamiltonian systems that can be studied using the methods of nonlinear dynamics. We consider in particular cold quantum gases where long-range interactions between the neutral atoms are present, in addition to the conventional short-range contact interaction, viz. gravity-like interactions, and dipole-dipole interactions. The results obtained serve as a useful guide in the search for nonlinear dynamics effects in numerically exact quantum calculations for Bose-Einstein condensates. A main result is the prediction of the existence of stable islands as well as chaotic regions for excited states of dipolar condensates, which could be checked experimentally.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations for the ground states of atoms and ions in neutron star magnetic fields

The diffusion quantum Monte Carlo method is extended to solve the old theoretical physics problem of many-electron atoms and ions in intense magnetic fields. The feature of our approach is the use of adiabatic approximation wave functions augmented by a Jastrow factor as guiding functions to initialize the quantum Monte Carlo prodecure. We calcula te the ground state energies of atoms and ions with nuclear charges from Z= 2, 3, 4, ..., 26 for magnetic field strengths relevant for neutron stars.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Time propagation of constrained coupled Gaussian wave packets

The dynamics of quantum systems can be approximated by the time propagation of Gaussian wave packets. Applying a time dependent variational principle, the time evolution of the parameters of the coupled Gaussian wave packets can be calculated from a set of ordinary differential equations. Unfortunately, the set of equations is ill-behaved in most practical applications, depending on the number of propagated Gaussian wave packets, and methods for regularization are needed. We present a general method for regularization based on applying adequate nonholonomic inequality constraints to the evolution of the parameters, keeping the equations of motion well-behaved. The power of the method is demonstrated for a non-integrable system with two degrees of freedom.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Resonance widths in open microwave cavities studied by harmonic inversion

From the measurement of a reflection spectrum of an open microwave cavity the poles of the scattering matrix in the complex plane have been determined. The resonances have been extracted by means of the harmonic inversion method. By this it became possible to resolve the resonances in a regime where the line widths exceed the mean level spacing up to a factor of 10, a value inaccessible in experiments up to now. The obtained experimental distributions of line widths were found to be in perfect agreement with predictions from random matrix theory when wall absorption and fluctuations caused by couplings to additional channels are considered.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive 1/r interaction: The case of self-trapping

Amplifying on a proposal by O'Dell et al. for the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates of neutral atoms with attractive $1/r$ interaction, we point out that the instance of self-trapping of the condensate, without external trap potential, is physically best understood by introducing appropriate "atomic" units. This reveals a remarkable scaling property: the physics of the condensate depends only on the two parameters $N^2 a/a_u$ and $γ/N^2$, where $N$ is the particle number, $a$ the scattering length, $a_u$ the "Bohr" radius and $γ$ the trap frequency in atomic units. We calculate accurate numerical results for self-trapping wave functions and potentials, for energies, sizes and peak densities, and compare with previous variational results. As a novel feature we point out the existence of a second solution of the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation for negative scattering lengths, with and without trapping potential, which is born together with the ground state in a tangent bifurcation. This indicates the existence of an unstable collectively excited state of the condensate for negative scattering lengths.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Extracting Multidimensional Phase Space Topology from Periodic Orbits

We establish a hierarchical ordering of periodic orbits in a strongly coupled multidimensional Hamiltonian system. Phase space structures can be reconstructed quantitatively from the knowledge of periodic orbits alone. We illustrate our findings for the hydrogen atom in crossed electric and magnetic fields.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Photoabsorption spectra of the diamagnetic hydrogen atom in the transition regime to chaos: Closed orbit theory with bifurcating orbits

With increasing energy the diamagnetic hydrogen atom undergoes a transition from regular to chaotic classical dynamics, and the closed orbits pass through various cascades of bifurcations. Closed orbit theory allows for the semiclassical calculation of photoabsorption spectra of the diamagnetic hydrogen atom. However, at the bifurcations the closed orbit contributions diverge. The singularities can be removed with the help of uniform semiclassical approximations which are constructed over a wide energy range for different types of codimension one and two catastrophes. Using the uniform approximations and applying the high-resolution harmonic inversion method we calculate fully resolved semiclassical photoabsorption spectra, i.e., individual eigenenergies and transition matrix elements at laboratory magnetic field strengths, and compare them with the results of exact quantum calculations.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Classical, semiclassical, and quantum investigations of the 4-sphere scattering system

A genuinely three-dimensional system, viz. the hyperbolic 4-sphere scattering system, is investigated with classical, semiclassical, and quantum mechanical methods at various center-to-center separations of the spheres. The efficiency and scaling properties of the computations are discussed by comparisons to the two-dimensional 3-disk system. While in systems with few degrees of freedom modern quantum calculations are, in general, numerically more efficient than semiclassical methods, this situation can be reversed with increasing dimension of the problem. For the 4-sphere system with large separations between the spheres, we demonstrate the superiority of semiclassical versus quantum calculations, i.e., semiclassical resonances can easily be obtained even in energy regions which are unattainable with the currently available quantum techniques. The 4-sphere system with touching spheres is a challenging problem for both quantum and semiclassical techniques. Here, semiclassical resonances are obtained via harmonic inversion of a cross-correlated periodic orbit signal.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Uniform semiclassical approximations on a topologically non-trivial configuration space: The hydrogen atom in an electric field

Semiclassical periodic-orbit theory and closed-orbit theory represent a quantum spectrum as a superposition of contributions from individual classical orbits. Close to a bifurcation, these contributions diverge and have to be replaced with a uniform approximation. Its construction requires a normal form that provides a local description of the bifurcation scenario. Usually, the normal form is constructed in flat space. We present an example taken from the hydrogen atom in an electric field where the normal form must be chosen to be defined on a sphere instead of a Euclidean plane. In the example, the necessity to base the normal form on a topologically non-trivial configuration space reveals a subtle interplay between local and global aspects of the phase space structure. We show that a uniform approximation for a bifurcation scenario with non-trivial topology can be constructed using the established uniformization techniques. Semiclassical photo-absorption spectra of the hydrogen atom in an electric field are significantly improved when based on the extended uniform approximations.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

The hydrogen atom in an electric field: Closed-orbit theory with bifurcating orbits

Closed-orbit theory provides a general approach to the semiclassical description of photo-absorption spectra of arbitrary atoms in external fields, the simplest of which is the hydrogen atom in an electric field. Yet, despite its apparent simplicity, a semiclassical quantization of this system by means of closed-orbit theory has not been achieved so far. It is the aim of this paper to close that gap. We first present a detailed analytic study of the closed classical orbits and their bifurcations. We then derive a simple form of the uniform semiclassical approximation for the bifurcations that is suitable for an inclusion into a closed-orbit summation. By means of a generalized version of the semiclassical quantization by harmonic inversion, we succeed in calculating high-quality semiclassical spectra for the hydrogen atom in an electric field.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

Closed orbits and their bifurcations in the crossed-fields hydrogen atom

A systematic study of closed classical orbits of the hydrogen atom in crossed electric and magnetic fields is presented. We develop a local bifurcation theory for closed orbits which is analogous to the well-known bifurcation theory for periodic orbits and allows identifying the generic closed-orbit bifurcations of codimension one. Several bifurcation scenarios are described in detail. They are shown to have as their constituents the generic codimension-one bifurcations, which combine into a rich variety of complicated scenarios. We propose heuristic criteria for a classification of closed orbits that can serve to systematize the complex set of orbits.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

Semiclassical quantization of the hydrogen atom in crossed electric and magnetic fields

The S-matrix theory formulation of closed-orbit theory recently proposed by Granger and Greene is extended to atoms in crossed electric and magnetic fields. We then present a semiclassical quantization of the hydrogen atom in crossed fields, which succeeds in resolving individual lines in the spectrum, but is restricted to the strongest lines of each n-manifold. By means of a detailed semiclassical analysis of the quantum spectrum, we demonstrate that it is the abundance of bifurcations of closed orbits that precludes the resolution of finer details. They necessitate the inclusion of uniform semiclassical approximations into the quantization process. Uniform approximations for the generic types of closed-orbit bifurcation are derived, and a general method for including them in a high-resolution semiclassical quantization is devised.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

Superiority of semiclassical over quantum mechanical calculations for a three-dimensional system

In systems with few degrees of freedom modern quantum calculations are, in general, numerically more efficient than semiclassical methods. However, this situation can be reversed with increasing dimension of the problem. For a three-dimensional system, viz. the hyperbolic four-sphere scattering system, we demonstrate the superiority of semiclassical versus quantum calculations. Semiclassical resonances can easily be obtained even in energy regions which are unattainable with the currently available quantum techniques.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

Periodic orbit quantization of the closed three-disk billiard as an example of a chaotic system with strong pruning

Classical chaotic systems with symbolic dynamics but strong pruning present a particular challenge for the application of semiclassical quantization methods. In the present study we show that the technique of periodic orbit quantization by harmonic inversion of trace formulae, which does not rely on the existence of a complete symbolic dynamics or other specific properties, lends itself ideally to calculating semiclassical eigenvalues from periodic orbit data even in strongly pruned systems. As the number of periodic orbits proliferates exponentially in chaotic systems, we apply the harmonic inversion technique to cross-correlated periodic orbit sums, which allows us to reduce the required number of orbits. The power of the method is demonstrated for the closed three-disk billiard as a prime example of a classically chaotic bound system with strong pruning.

nlin.CD↗