Search

We discuss conditions for the enhancement of fusion reactivities arising from different choices of energy distribution functions for the reactants. The key element for potential gains in fusion reactivity is identified in the functional dependence of the tunneling coefficient on the energy, ensuring the existence of a finite range of temperatures for which reactivity of fusion processes is boosted with respect to the Maxwellian case. This is shown using a convenient parametrization of the tunneling coefficient dependence on the energy, analytically in the simplified case of a bimodal Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, and numerically for kappa distributions. We then consider tunneling potentials progressively better approximating fusion processes and evaluate in each case the average reactivity in the case of kappa distributions.

We discuss results on the dynamics of thermalization for a model with Gaussian interactions between two classical many-body systems trapped in external harmonic potentials. Previous work showed an approximate power-law scaling of the interaction energy with the number of particles, with particular focus on the dependence of the anomalous exponent on the interaction strength. Here we explore the role of the interaction range in determining anomalous exponents, showing that it is a more relevant parameter to differentiate distinct regimes of responses of the system. More specifically, on varying the interaction range from its largest values while keeping the interaction strength constant, we observe a crossover from an integrable system, approximating the Caldeira-Leggett interaction term in the long-range limit, to an intermediate interaction range in which the system manifests anomalous scaling, and finally to a regime of local interactions in which anomalous scaling disappears. A Fourier analysis of the interaction energy shows that nonlinearities give rise to an effective bath with a broad band of frequencies, even when starting with only two distinct trapping frequencies, yielding efficient thermalization in the intermediate regime of interaction range. We provide qualitative arguments, based on an analogous Fourier analysis of the standard map, supporting the view that anomalous scaling and features of the Fourier spectrum may be used as proxies to identify the role of chaotic dynamics. Our work, that encompasses models developed in different contexts and unifies them in a common framework, may be relevant to the general understanding of the role of nonlinearities in a variety of many-body classical systems, ranging from plasmas to trapped atoms and ions.

We discuss the scaling of the interaction energy with particle numbers for a harmonically trapped two-species mixture at thermal equilibrium experiencing interactions of arbitrary strength and range. In the limit of long-range interactions and weak coupling, we recover known results for the integrable Caldeira-Leggett model in the classical limit. In the case of short-range interactions and for a balanced mixture, numerical simulations show scaling laws with exponents that depend on the interaction strength, its attractive or repulsive nature, and the dimensionality of the system. Simple analytic considerations based on equilibrium statistical mechanics and small interspecies coupling quantitatively recover the numerical results. The dependence of the scaling on interaction strength helps to identify a threshold between two distinct regimes. Our thermalization model covers both local and extended interactions, allowing for interpolation between different systems such as fully ionized gases and neutral atoms, as well as parameters describing integrable and chaotic dynamics.

We consider an Ehrenfest approximation for a particle in a double-well potential in the presence of an external environment schematized as a finite resource heat bath. This allows us to explore how the limitations in the applicability of Ehrenfest dynamics to nonlinear systems are modified in an open system setting. Within this framework, we have identified an environment-induced spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism, and we argue that the Ehrenfest approximation becomes increasingly valid in the limit of strong coupling to the external reservoir, either in the form of an increasing number of oscillators or increasing temperature. The analysis also suggests a rather intuitive picture for the general phenomenon of quantum tunneling and its interplay with classical thermal activation processes, which may be of relevance in physical chemistry, ultracold atom physics, and fast-switching dynamics such as in superconducting digital electronics.

We report on numerical simulations of the dynamics of a test particle coupled to competing Boltzmann heat baths of finite size. After discussing some features of the single bath case, we show that the presence of two heat baths further constrains the conditions necessary for the test particle to thermalize with the heat baths. We find that thermalization is a spectral property in which the oscillators of the bath with frequencies in the range of the test particle characteristic frequency determine its degree of thermalization. We also find an unexpected frequency shift of the test particle response with respect to the spectra of the two heat baths. Finally, we discuss implications of our results for the study of high-frequency nanomechanical resonators through cold damping cooling techniques and for engineering reservoirs capable of mitigating the back action on a mechanical system.

We propose an experiment for generating and detecting vacuum-induced dissipative motion. A high frequency mechanical resonator driven in resonance is expected to dissipate mechanical energy in quantum vacuum via photon emission. The photons are stored in a high quality electromagnetic cavity and detected through their interaction with ultracold alkali-metal atoms prepared in an inverted population of hyperfine states. Superradiant amplification of the generated photons results in a detectable radio-frequency signal temporally distinguishable from the expected background.

We compare strategies for evaporative and sympathetic cooling of two-species Fermi-Bose mixtures in single-color and two-color optical dipole traps. We show that in the latter case a large heat capacity of the bosonic species can be maintained during the entire cooling process. This could allow one to efficiently achieve a deep Fermi degeneracy regime having at the same time a significant thermal fraction for the Bose gas, crucial for a precise thermometry of the mixture. Two possible signatures of a superfluid phase transition for the Fermi species are discussed.

We propose the use of a combined optical dipole trap to achieve Fermi degeneracy by sympathetic cooling with a different bosonic species. Two far-detuned pairs of laser beams focused on the atomic clouds are used to confine the two atomic species with different trapping strengths. We show that a deep Fermi degeneracy regime can be potentially achieved earlier than Bose-Einstein condensation, as discussed in the favorable situation of a 6Li-23Na mixture. This opens up the possibility of experimentally investigating a mixture of superfluid Fermi and normal Bose gases.

We report on the measurement of the Casimir force between conducting surfaces in a parallel configuration. The force is exerted between a silicon cantilever coated with chromium and a similar rigid surface and is detected by looking at the shifts induced in the cantilever frequency when the latter is approached. The scaling of the force with the distance between the surfaces was tested in the 0.5-3.0 microm range, and the related force coefficient was determined at the 15% precision level.

We have studied the hydrodynamic flow in a Bose-Einstein condensate stirred by a macroscopic object, a blue-detuned laser beam, using nondestructive in situ phase contrast imaging. A critical velocity for the onset of a pressure gradient has been observed, and shown to be density dependent. The technique has been compared to a calorimetric method used previously to measure the heating induced by the motion of the laser beam.

Surface modes in a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms have been studied. We observed excitations of standing and rotating quadrupolar and hexadecapolar modes. The modes were excited with high spatial and temporal resolution using the optical dipole force of a rapidly scanning laser beam. This novel technique is very flexible and should be useful for the study of rotating Bose-Einstein condensates and vortices.