Ground-state energy of harmonically trapped few- to many-fermion systems at unitarity via non-uniform lattice Monte Carlo (2015)

Undergraduate: Jared Compiano

Faculty Advisor: Joaquin Drut
Department: Physics & Astronomy

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We determine the ground-state energies (i.e., the lowest energy states) for multiple, attractively interacting point particles called ¿¿¿fermions¿¿¿ at unitarity confined in a three-dimensional harmonic potential energy well. At unitarity, particles are at the critical point where they are almost bound together. These energies are calculated numerically via lattice Monte Carlo calculations. Our approach is unique because we implement a non-uniform Gauss-Hermite spatial lattice, which has not been done previously and has many advantages over other lattices. Experimental observation and manipulation of few- to many-body quantum systems is currently possible, but the theory is not well developed. These theoretical results serve as a prediction for the ground-state energies of such experiments.