Three-body correlations in liquid and solid /sup 4/He

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.35.4719· OSTI ID:5853095

Whitlock, P A; Chester, G V

We present the analysis of three-body correlations in the fluid and solid phases of /sup 4/He. The results are from exact (Green's-function Monte Carlo) and variational calculations of /sup 4/He described by the Lennard-Jones two-body potential. A set of angular order parameters derived from the three-body distribution function are defined and we find that certain of these parameters change significantly at the onset of freezing to a quantum solid. We then trace the evolution of the parameters from the quantum solid regime, near melting, to an approximately harmonic solid at high density. We have also computed the angular order parameters for two different kinds of variational functions: the traditional Jastrow function and a function which includes triplet correlations. The parameters computed from the Jastrow function show clear differences from the exact results. The variational function with triplet correlations, however, closely resembles the exact results in both the fluid and solid phases. In this respect it is clearly superior to the Jastrow function.

• Research Organization: Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, New York 10012
• OSTI ID: 5853095
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States) Vol. 35:10; ISSN PRBMD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640410 -- Fluid Physics-- General Fluid Dynamics
656002* -- Condensed Matter Physics-- General Techniques in Condensed Matter-- (1987-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CORRELATIONS
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FUNCTIONS
GREEN FUNCTION
HELIUM 4
HELIUM ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LENNARD-JONES POTENTIAL
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NUCLEI
ORDER PARAMETERS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POTENTIALS
STABLE ISOTOPES
THREE-BODY PROBLEM
VARIATIONAL METHODS