Variational Monte Carlo calculations of ground states of liquid /sup 4/He and /sup 3/He drops

Journal Article · Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986 · Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.34.4571· OSTI ID:5108761

Pandharipande, V R; Pieper, S C; Wiringa, R B

Variational Monte Carlo calculations of the ground states of drops containing 8--728 atoms of /sup 4/He and 20--240 atoms of /sup 3/He have been made. The variational wave functions include two- and three-body correlations and (for the Fermi drops) Feynman-Cohen backflow. We discuss the wave functions, their relation to modern variational wave functions for liquid /sup 4/He and /sup 3/He, the calculational techniques, and the results for the ground-state energies and density profiles. Our calculations indicate that /sup 3/He drops with more than 40 atoms are bound, while a drop with 20 atoms is in a metastable state that has positive energy but negative chemical potential. The surface tensions of both liquid /sup 4/He and /sup 3/He are obtained by liquid-drop fits to the calculated binding energies. From the density profiles of the largest drops we estimate the surface thickness of liquid /sup 4/He to be 7 A while that for liquid /sup 3/He is 8 A.

• Research Organization: Department of Physics and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5108761
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States), Vol. 34:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
HELIUM 3
GROUND STATES
HELIUM 4
BOUND STATE
CRITICAL SIZE
DROPLETS
EIGENVALUES
QUANTUM FLUIDS
SURFACE TENSION
VARIATIONAL METHODS
ENERGY LEVELS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUIDS
HELIUM ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
PARTICLES
SIZE
STABLE ISOTOPES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
640460* - Fluid Physics- Other Quantum Fluids