Numerical solution of the Boltzmann equation for the collective modes of trapped Fermi gases

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.023609· OSTI ID:21448549

Lepers, Thomas; Davesne, Dany; Chiacchiera, Silvia; Urban, Michael ^[1]

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1. Universite de Lyon, F-69003 Lyon (France)

We numerically solve the Boltzmann equation for trapped fermions in the normal phase by using the test-particle method. After discussing a couple of tests in order to estimate the reliability of the method, we apply it to the description of collective modes in a spherical harmonic trap. The numerical results are compared with those obtained previously by taking moments of the Boltzmann equation. We find that the general shape of the response function is very similar in both methods, but the relaxation time obtained from the simulation is significantly longer than that predicted by the method of moments. It is shown that the result of the method of moments can be corrected by including fourth-order moments in addition to the usual second-order ones and that this method agrees very well with our numerical simulations.

• OSTI ID: 21448549
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.023609; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOLTZMANN EQUATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
FERMI GAS
FERMIONS
MOMENTS METHOD
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
RELAXATION TIME
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
TEST PARTICLES
TRAPPING
CALCULATION METHODS
CONFIGURATION
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
FUNCTIONS
INTEGRO-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
KINETIC EQUATIONS
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
SIMULATION