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M. W. J. Bromley

Publications and source records attributed to M. W. J. Bromley.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Reference frame-independent model of a collective excitation atom interferometer

We theoretically analyze the operating principles of a proposed matter-wave Sagnac interferometer utilizing Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) phonon modes as an interference medium. Previous work found that the orbital angular momentum phonon modes of a ring-trapped BEC are split in frequency by rotations, leading to a measurable rotation signal. We develop an alternate description in which an imbalance in the counter-propagating modes' amplitudes (populations) is induced by the rotation of the system during condensation. This description gives analytic forms for the interferometric phase shift in 1D and is readily generalized to include mean-field interactions. To validate our findings, we simulate a ring-trapped BEC Sagnac interferometer in one dimension and demonstrate that measurement of an unknown rotation rate can be performed using a modified analysis. Our simulation data show strong agreement with our analytic results, and we further employ simulations to explore and clarify the role of superfluidity in this matter-wave Sagnac interferometer.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

Atomtronic Many-Body Transport using Husimi Driving

Quantum systems with exact analytic solutions are rare - challenging the realisation of excitation-free transport methods for many-body systems. Husimi's 1953 treatment of linearly driven harmonic oscillators constitutes an important exception, describing a wavepacket which is spatially translated but otherwise unperturbed by the driving. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the application of Husimi's solution to an interacting many-body system, namely optically- and magnetically-trapped Bose-Einstein condensates subject to resonant and off-resonant linear magnetic driving potentials. The observed centre-of-mass motion is consistent with theory and shows minimal excitation of the displaced condensate - a highly desirable property of any condensate manipulation technique. We demonstrate transport 72 times faster than adiabatic rates, and a novel Husimi driving-based trap frequency measurement. We finally propose future applications based on our experimental results: an atom interferometry scheme, and methods for extended transport and precision control of one-body, few-body, and many-body systems via Husimi driving.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

Effective oscillator strength distributions of spherically symmetric atoms for calculating polarizabilities and long-range atom-atom interactions

Effective oscillator strength distributions are systematically generated and tabulated for the alkali atoms, the alkaline-earth atoms, the alkaline-earth ions, the rare gases and some miscellaneous atoms. These effective distributions are used to compute the dipole, quadrupole and octupole static polarizabilities, and are then applied to the calculation of the dynamic polarizabilities at imaginary frequencies. These polarizabilities can be used to determine the long-range $C_6$, $C_8$ and $C_{10}$ atom-atom interactions for the dimers formed from any of these atoms and ions, and we present tables covering all of these combinations.

physics.atom-ph↗

Phase-Shift Plateaus in the Sagnac Effect for Matter Waves

We simulate ultracold Sagnac atom interferometers using quantum-mechanical matter wavepackets, e.g. Bose-Einstein condensates, that counter-propagate within a rotating ring-trap. We find that the accumulation of the relative phase difference between wavepackets, i.e. the matter wave Sagnac effect, is manifested as discrete phase jumps. These plateaus result from three effects; that the atoms should be initially trapped at rest with respect to the rotating frame, that they counter-propagate with the same group velocities in the rotating frame, and that the imaging is performed in the rotating frame. We show that the plateaus persist in the presence of nonlinear atom-atom interactions, and in atoms undergoing various rotations, and thus will occur during matter wavepacket experiments. We also introduce the simplest possible Sagnac atom interferometry scheme which relies on wavepacket dispersion around a ring-trap.

physics.atom-ph↗

Positron attachment to the He doubly excited states

The projection method is used to demonstrate the existence of positron attachment to three doubly excited states of helium. The e^+He(2s^2 1Se), e^+He(3s^2 1Se), and the e^+He(2s2p 3Po) states have binding energies of 0.447eV, 0.256eV and 0.486eV respectively. These energies were computed with the stochastic variational method and the configuration interaction method. These states will exist as resonances in the e^+ + He continuum and the e^+He(2s^2 1Se) state could be detectable in the e^+ + He collision spectrum. A resonance width of 0.068eV was computed for the e^+He(2s^2 1Se), state by using the complex rotation method. The existence of a series of e^+He(ns^2 1Se) resonances associated with the He(ns^2) double Rydberg series is also predicted and an explicit calculation demonstrating the existence of the e^+He(3s^2 1Se) state is reported.

physics.atom-ph↗

Scaling laws for the non-linear coupling constant of a Bose-Einstein condensate at the threshold of delocalization

We explore the localization of a quasi-one-, quasi-two-, and three-dimensional ultra-cold gas by a finite-range defect along the corresponding 'free'-direction/s. The time-independent non-linear Schroedinger equation that describes a Bose-Einstein condensate was used to calculate the maximum non-linear coupling constant, g_max, and thus the maximum number of atoms, N_max, that the defect potential can localize. An analytical model, based on the Thomas-Fermi approximation, is introduced for the wavefunction. We show that g_max becomes a function of R_0 sqrt(V_0) for various one-, two-, and three-dimensional defect shapes with depths V_0 and characteristic lengths R_0. Our explicit calculations show surprising agreement with this crude model over a wide range of V_0 and R_0. A scaling rule is also found for the wavefunction for the ground state at the threshold at which the localized states approach delocalization. The implication is that two defects with the same product R_0 sqrt(V_0) will thus be related to each other with the same g_max and will have the same (reduced) density profile in the free-direction/s.

physics.atom-ph↗

Positron-atom scattering using pseudo-state energy shifts

A method to generate low-energy phase shifts for elastic scattering using bound-state calculations is applied to the problem of e+ - Mg and e+ - Zn scattering after an initial validation on the e+ - Cu system. The energy shift between a small reference calculation and the largest possible configuration interaction calculation of the lowest energy pseudo-state is used to tune a semi-empirical optical potential. The potential was further fine-tuned by utilizing the energy of the second lowest pseudo-state. The s- and p-wave phase shifts for positron scattering from Mg and Zn are given from threshold to the first excitation threshold. The e+ - Mg cross section has a prominent p-wave shape resonance at an energy of about 0.096 eV with a width of 0.106 eV. The peak cross section for e+ - Mg scattering is about 4800 a_0^2 while Z_eff achieves a value of 1310 at an energy of 0.109 eV.

physics.atom-ph↗

Positronic complexes with unnatural parity

The structure of the unnatural parity states of PsH, LiPs, NaPs and KPs are investigated with the configuration interaction and stochastic variational methods. The binding energies (in hartree) are found to be 8.17x10-4, 4.42x10-4, 15.14x10-4 and 21.80x10-4 respectively. These states are constructed by first coupling the two electrons into a configuration which is predominantly 3Pe, and then adding a p-wave positron. All the active particles are in states in which the relative angular momentum between any pair of particles is at least L = 1. The LiPs state is Borromean since there are no 3-body bound subsystems (of the correct symmetry) of the (Li+, e-, e-, e+) particles that make up the system. The dominant decay mode of these states will be radiative decay into a configuration that autoionizes or undergoes positron annihilation.

physics.atom-ph↗

Generating phase shifts from pseudo state energy shifts

A simple way to generate low energy phase shifts for elastic scattering using bound-state calculations is postulated, validated and applied to the problem of e+ - Mg scattering. The essence of the method is to use the energy shift between a small reference calculation and the largest possible calculation of the lowest energy pseudo-state to tune a semi-empirical optical potential. The L = 1 partial wave for e+ - Mg scattering is predicted to have a shape resonance at an energy of about 0.13 eV. The value of Zeff at the center of the resonance is about 1500.

physics.atom-ph↗

Second bound state of PsH

The existence of a second bound state of PsH that is electronically stable and also stable against positron annihilation by the normal 2gamma and 3gamma processes is demonstrated by explicit calculation. The state can be found in the 2,4So symmetries with the two electrons in a spin triplet state. The binding energy against dissociation into the H(2p) + Ps(2p) channel was 6.06x10-4 Hartree. The dominant decay mode of the states will be radiative decay into a configuration that autoionizes or undergoes positron annihilation. The NaPs system of the same symmetry is also electronically stable with a binding energy of 1.553x10-3 Hartree with respect to the Na(3p) + Ps(2p) channel.

physics.atom-ph↗

The existence of a 2Po excited state for the e+Ca system

The Configuration Interaction method is used to demonstrate that there is an electronically stable state of positronic calcium with an orbital angular momentum of L=1. This prediction relies on the use of an asymptotic series to estimate the variational limit of the energy. The best estimate of the binding energy is 37 meV. A discussion of the structure of the system is also presented.

physics.atom-ph↗

Convergence of an s-wave calculation of the He ground state

The Configuration Interaction (CI) method using a large Laguerre basis restricted to l = 0 orbitals is applied to the calculation of the He ground state. The maximum number of orbitals included was 60. The numerical evidence suggests that the energy converges as Delta E^N approx A/N^(7/2) + B/N^(8/2) + >... where N is the number of Laguerre basis functions. The electron-electron delta-function expectation converges as Delta delta^N approx A/N^(5/2) + B/N^(6/2) + ... and the variational limit for the l = 0 basis is estimated as 0.1557637174(2) a_0^3. It was seen that extrapolation of the energy to the variational limit is dependent upon the basis dimension at which the exponent in the Laguerre basis was optimized. In effect, it may be best to choose a non-optimal exponent if one wishes to extrapolate to the variational limit. An investigation of the Natural Orbital asymptotics revealed the energy converged as Delta E^N approx A/N^6 + B/N^7 + ... while the electron-electron delta-function expectation converged as Delta delta^N approx A/N^4 + B/N^5 + >... . The asymptotics of expectation values other than the energy showed fluctuations that depended on whether $N$ was even or odd.

physics.atom-ph↗

Convergence of the partial wave expansion of the He ground state

The Configuration Interaction (CI) method using a very large Laguerre orbital basis is applied to the calculation of the He ground state. The largest calculations included a minimum of 35 radial orbitals for each l ranging from 0 to 12 resulting in basis sets in excess of 400 orbitals. The convergence of the energy and electron-electron delta-function with respect to J (the maximum angular momenta of the orbitals included in the CI expansion) were investigated in detail. Extrapolations to the limit of infinite in angular momentum using expansions of the type Delta X_J = A_X/(J+1/2)^p + B_X/(J+1/2)^(p+1) + ..., gave an energy accurate to 10^(-7) Hartree and a value of accurate to about 0.5%. Improved estimates of and , accurate to 10^(-8) Hartree and 0.01% respectively, were obtained when extrapolations to an infinite radial basis were done prior to the determination of the J -> infty limit. Round-off errors were the main impediment to achieving even higher precision since determination of the radial and angular limits required the manipulation of very small energy and differences.

physics.atom-ph↗

Convergence of CI single center calculations of positron-atom interactions

The Configuration Interaction (CI) method using orbitals centered on the nucleus has recently been applied to calculate the interactions of positrons interacting with atoms. Computational investigations of the convergence properties of binding energy, phase shift and annihilation rate with respect to the maximum angular momentum of the orbital basis for the e^+Cu and PsH bound states, and the e^+-H scattering system were completed. The annihilation rates converge very slowly with angular momentum, and moreover the convergence with radial basis dimension appears to be slower for high angular momentum. A number of methods of completing the partial wave sum are compared, an approach based on a Delta X_J = a/(J + 1/2)^n + b/(J + 1/2)^(n+1) form (with n = 4 for phase shift (or energy) and n = 2 for the annihilation rate) seems to be preferred on considerations of utility and underlying physical justification.

physics.atom-ph↗

Configuration Interaction calculations of positron binding to Be(3Po)

The Configuration Interaction method is applied to investigate the possibility of positron binding to the metastable beryllium (1s^22s2p 3Po) state. The largest calculation obtained an estimated energy that was unstable by 0.00014 Hartree with respect to the Ps + Be^+(2s) lowest dissociation channel. It is likely that positron binding to parent states with non-zero angular momentum is inhibited by centrifugal barriers.

physics.atom-ph↗

Large dimension Configuration Interaction calculations of positron binding to the group II atoms

The Configuration Interaction (CI) method is applied to the calculation of the structures of a number of positron binding systems, including e+Be, e+Mg, e+Ca and e+Sr. These calculations were carried out in orbital spaces containing about 200 electron and 200 positron orbitals up to l = 12. Despite the very large dimensions, the binding energy and annihilation rate converge slowly with l, and the final values do contain an appreciable correction obtained by extrapolating the calculation to the l to infinity limit. The binding energies were 0.00317 hartree for e+Be, 0.0170 hartree for e+Mg, 0.0189 hartree for e+Ca, and 0.0131 hartree for e+Sr.

physics.atom-ph↗

The higher-order C_n dispersion coefficients for hydrogen

The complete set of 2nd, 3rd and 4th order van der Waals coefficients, C_n up to n=32 for the H(1s)-H(1s) dimer are computed using pseudo-states to evaluate the appropriate sum rules. A study of the convergence pattern for n<=16 indicates that all the C_n (n<=16) coefficients are accurate to 13 significant digits. The relative size of the 4th-order C^4_n to the 2nd-order C^2_n coefficients is seen to increase as n increases and at n=32 the 4th-order term is actually larger.

physics.atom-ph↗

The higher order C_n dispersion coefficients for the alkali atoms

The van der Waals coefficients, from C_11 through to C_16 resulting from 2nd, 3rd and 4th order perturbation theory are estimated for the alkali (Li, Na, K and Rb) atoms. The dispersion coefficients are also computed for all possible combinations of the alkali atoms and hydrogen. The parameters are determined from sum-rules after diagonalizing the fixed core Hamiltonian in a large basis. Comparisons of the radial dependence of the C_n/r^n potentials give guidance as to the radial regions in which the various higher-order terms can be neglected. It is seen that including terms up to C_10/r^10 results in a dispersion interaction that is accurate to better than 1 percent whenever the inter-nuclear spacing is larger than 20 a_0. This level of accuracy is mainly achieved due to the fortuitous cancellation between the repulsive (C_11, C_13, C_15) and attractive (C_12, C_14, C_16) dispersion forces.

physics.atom-ph↗