The Momentum Distribution of Liquid 4He

T. R. Prisk, M. S. Bryan, P. E. Sokol, G. E. Granroth, S. Moroni, M. Boninsegni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, we report a high-resolution neutron Compton scattering study of liquid 4He under milli-Kelvin temperature control. To interpret the scattering data, we performed Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the atomic momentum distribution and final state effects for the conditions of temperature and density considered in the experiment. There is excellent agreement between the observed scattering and ab initio calculations of its lineshape at all temperatures. We also used model fit functions to obtain from the scattering data empirical estimates of the average atomic kinetic energy and Bose condensate fraction. These quantities are also in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations. We conclude that contemporary Quantum Monte Carlo methods can furnish accurate predictions for the properties of Bose liquids, including the condensate fraction, close to the superfluid transition temperature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)158-184
Number of pages27
JournalJournal of Low Temperature Physics
Volume189
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2017

Funding

The authors are grateful to David Sprinkle of Indiana University for lending his expertise to the design, construction, and testing of the cyrogenics built for this study. Saad Elorfi and Mark Loguillo of the Spallation Neutron Source provided technical support for this experiment. We also recognize helpful scientific discussions with Doug Abernathy, Richard Azuah, Souleymane Diallo, Jiao Lin, Matthew Stone, and Peter Willendrup. This report was prepared, in part, by Indiana University under award 70NANB10H255 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Matthew S. Bryan acknowledges support under NSF grant DGE-1069091. This research at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, as well as by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Computing support from Westgrid is gratefully acknowledged.

FundersFunder number
Scientific User Facilities Division
National Science FoundationDGE-1069091, 1069091
U.S. Department of Energy
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Basic Energy Sciences
Indiana University70NANB10H255
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

    Keywords

    • Bose–Einstein condensation
    • Inelastic neutron scattering
    • Momentum distributions
    • Quantum Monte Carlo

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