Ground-state energy and stability limit of {sup 3}He droplets

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.73.0· OSTI ID:20787948

Sola, E; Casulleras, J; Boronat, J ^[1]

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1. Departamento de Fisica i Enginyeria Nuclear, Campus Nord B4-B5, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain)

Small and stable drops of {sup 3}He atoms can only exist above a minimum number of particles, due to the combination of the {sup 3}He atom Fermi statistics and its light mass. An accurate estimation of this minimum number using microscopic theory has been difficult due to the inhomogeneous and fermionic nature of these systems. We present a diffusion Monte Carlo calculation of {sup 3}He drops with sizes near the minimum in order to determine the stability threshold. The results show that the minimum self-bound drop is formed by N=30 atoms with preferred orbitals for open shells corresponding to maximum value of the spin.

• OSTI ID: 20787948
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 73, Issue 9; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.73.092515; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
DIFFUSION
DROPLETS
FERMI STATISTICS
GROUND STATES
HELIUM 3
LIQUIDS
MONTE CARLO METHOD
SPIN
STABILITY