Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom

Details Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom

1997-11-21

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9711213v1

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

25 pages, RevTeX, 5 figures in ps-format. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.57.4933

It is shown that statistical mechanics is applicable to isolated quantum systems with finite numbers of particles, such as complex atoms, atomic clusters, or quantum dots in solids, where the residual two-body interaction is sufficiently strong. This interaction mixes the unperturbed shell-model (Hartree-Fock) basis states and produces chaotic many-body eigenstates. As a result, an interaction-induced statistical equilibrium emerges in the system. This equilibrium is due to the off-diagonal matrix elements of the Hamiltonian. We show that it can be described by means of temperature introduced through the canonical-type distribution. However, the interaction between the particles can lead to prominent deviations of the equilibrium distribution of the occupation numbers from the Fermi-Dirac shape. Besides that, the off-diagonal part of the Hamiltonian gives rise to the increase of the effective temperature of the system (statistical effect of the interaction). For example, this takes place in the cerium atom which has four valence electrons and which is used in our work to compare the theory with realistic numerical calculations.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Interaction-Driven Equilibrium and Statistical Laws in Small Systems. The Cerium Atom will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-66437