IACS Student Seminar: S. Chowdhury, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy

IACS Student Seminar: S. Chowdhury, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
Date: October 23, 2024

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations of atom-ion clusters

Abstract: In order to better understand chemistry, it is helpful to carefully examine each of the different kinds of interactions that can occur. One of the most fundamental interactions is the interaction between a neutral atom and an ionized atom. To better understand the fundamental quantum mechanical aspects of this atom-ion interaction, it is helpful to cool down the particles to as low of a temperature as possible, so that thermal effects are minimized. To see how the atom-ion interaction, due to an ionic impurity or seed, affects bulk matter, one should first understand how the ion affects small clusters of atoms, one atom at a time.

Therefore, in this talk, we will discuss quantum Diffusion Monte Carlo simulations of the ground states of a trapped ion in an ultracold gas of neutral atoms. We will show how the binding energy and cluster geometry, for systems of one ion and up to 75 atoms, depends on the short-range behavior of the atom-ion potential. Throughout the talk, we will emphasize the details of the computational algorithms, parallelization, and optimization.

Event link: https://calendar.stonybrook.edu/site/...