Thermodynamics of spin-1/2 fermions on coarse temporal lattices using automated algebra.

Recent advances in automated algebra for dilute Fermi gases in the virial expansion, where coarse temporal lattices were found advantageous, motivate the study of more general computational schemes that could be applied to arbitrary densities, beyond the dilute limit where the virial expansion is physically reasonable. We propose here such an approach by developing what we call the Quantum Thermodynamics Computational Engine (QTCE). In QTCE, the imaginary-time direction is discretized and the interaction is accounted for via a quantum cumulant expansion, where the coefficients are expressed in terms of non-interacting expectation values.

Calculating the classical virial expansion using automated algebra.

Using schematic model potentials, we calculate exactly the virial coefficients of a classical gas up to sixth order and use them to calculate the virial expansion of basic thermodynamic quantities such as pressure, density, and compressibility. At sufficiently strong couplings, as expected, the virial expansion fails to converge. However, at least for the interactions and parameter ranges we explored, we find that Padé-Borel resummation methods are very effective in improving the convergence of the expansion.

Ab Initio Nuclear Thermodynamics.

We propose a new Monte Carlo method called the pinhole trace algorithm for ab initio calculations of the thermodynamics of nuclear systems. For typical simulations of interest, the computational speedup relative to conventional grand-canonical ensemble calculations can be as large as a factor of one thousand. Using a leading-order effective interaction that reproduces the properties of many atomic nuclei and neutron matter to a few percent accuracy, we determine the location of the critical point and the liquid-vapor coexistence line for symmetric nuclear matter with equal numbers of protons and neutrons.

Emergence of a Pseudogap in the BCS-BEC Crossover.

Strongly correlated Fermi systems with pairing interactions become superfluid below a critical temperature T_{c}. The extent to which such pairing correlations alter the behavior of the liquid at temperatures T>T_{c} is a subtle issue that remains an area of debate, in particular regarding the appearance of the so-called pseudogap in the BCS-BEC crossover of unpolarized spin-1/2 nonrelativistic matter. To shed light on this, we extract several quantities of crucial importance at and around the unitary limit, namely, the odd-even staggering of the total energy, the spin susceptibility, the pairing correlation function, the condensate fraction, and the critical temperature T_{c}, using a nonperturbative, constrained-ensemble quantum Monte Carlo algorithm.

Fourth- and Fifth-Order Virial Coefficients from Weak Coupling to Unitarity.

In the current era of precision quantum many-body physics, one of the most scrutinized systems is the unitary limit of the nonrelativistic spin-1/2 Fermi gas, due to its simplicity and relevance for atomic, condensed matter, and nuclear physics. The thermodynamics of this strongly correlated system is determined by universal functions which, at high temperatures, are governed by universal virial coefficients b_{n} that capture the effects of the n-body system on the many-body dynamics. Currently, b_{2} and b_{3} are well understood, but the situation is less clear for b_{4}, and no predictions have been made for b_{5}.

Finite-Temperature Equation of State of Polarized Fermions at Unitarity.

We study in a nonperturbative fashion the thermodynamics of a unitary Fermi gas over a wide range of temperatures and spin polarizations. To this end, we use the complex Langevin method, a first principles approach for strongly coupled systems. Specifically, we show results for the density equation of state, the magnetization, and the magnetic susceptibility.

Quantum Anomaly and Thermodynamics of One-Dimensional Fermions with Three-Body Interactions.

We show that a system of three species of one-dimensional fermions, with an attractive three-body contact interaction, features a scale anomaly directly related to the anomaly of two-dimensional fermions with two-body contact forces. We show, furthermore, that those two cases (and their multispecies generalizations) are the only nonrelativistic systems with contact interactions that display a scale anomaly. While the two-dimensional case is well known and has been under study both experimentally and theoretically for years, the one-dimensional case presented here has remained unexplored.

Entanglement, noise, and the cumulant expansion.

We put forward a simpler and improved variation of a recently proposed method to overcome the signal-to-noise problem found in Monte Carlo calculations of the entanglement entropy of interacting fermions. The present method takes advantage of the approximate log-normal distributions that characterize the signal-to-noise properties of other approaches. In addition, we show that a simple rewriting of the formalism allows circumvention of the inversion of the restricted one-body density matrix in the calculation of the nth Rényi entanglement entropy for n>2.

Pressure, compressibility, and contact of the two-dimensional attractive fermi gas.

Using ab initio lattice methods, we calculate the finite temperature thermodynamics of homogeneous two-dimensional spin-1/2 fermions with attractive short-range interactions. We present results for the density, pressure, compressibility, and quantum anomaly (i.e.

Zero-temperature equation of state of mass-imbalanced resonant Fermi gases.

We calculate the zero-temperature equation of state of mass-imbalanced resonant Fermi gases in an ab initio fashion, by implementing the recent proposal of imaginary-valued mass difference to bypass the sign problem in lattice Monte Carlo calculations. The fully nonperturbative results thus obtained are analytically continued to real mass-imbalance to yield the physical equation of state, providing predictions for upcoming experiments with mass-imbalanced atomic Fermi gases. In addition, we present an exact relation for the rate of change of the equation of state at small mass imbalances, showing that it is fully determined by the energy of the mass-balanced system.

Convexity of the entanglement entropy of SU(2N)-symmetric fermions with attractive interactions.

The positivity of the probability measure of attractively interacting systems of 2N-component fermions enables the derivation of an exact convexity property for the ground-state energy of such systems. Using analogous arguments, applied to path-integral expressions for the entanglement entropy derived recently, we prove nonperturbative analytic relations for the Rényi entropies of those systems. These relations are valid for all subsystem sizes, particle numbers, and dimensions, and in arbitrary external trapping potentials.

Imaginary polarization as a way to surmount the sign problem in ab initio calculations of spin-imbalanced Fermi gases.

From ultracold atoms to quantum chromodynamics, reliable ab initio studies of strongly interacting fermions require numerical methods, typically in some form of quantum Monte Carlo calculation. Unfortunately, (non)relativistic systems at finite density (spin polarization) generally have a sign problem, such that those ab initio calculations are impractical. It is well-known, however, that in the relativistic case imaginary chemical potentials solve this problem, assuming the data can be analytically continued to the real axis.

Cooper pairing above the critical temperature in a unitary Fermi gas.

We present an ab initio determination of the spin response of the unitary Fermi gas. Based on finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo calculations and the Kubo linear-response formalism, we determine the temperature dependence of the spin susceptibility and the spin conductivity. We show that both quantities exhibit suppression above the critical temperature of the superfluid-to-normal phase transition due to Cooper pairing.

Precise determination of the structure factor and contact in a unitary Fermi gas.

We present a high-precision determination of the universal contact parameter in a strongly interacting Fermi gas. In a trapped gas at unitarity, we find the contact to be 3.06±0.

Shear viscosity of a unitary Fermi gas.

We present an ab initio determination of the shear viscosity η of the unitary Fermi gas, based on finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo calculations and the Kubo linear-response formalism. We determine the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity-to-entropy density ratio η/s. The minimum of η/s appears to be located above the critical temperature for the superfluid-to-normal phase transition with the most probable value being (η/s)min≈0.

Momentum distribution and contact of the unitary Fermi gas.

We calculate the momentum distribution n(k) of the unitary Fermi gas by using quantum Monte Carlo calculations at finite temperature T/ϵ(F) as well as in the ground state. At large momenta k/k(F), we find that n(k) falls off as C/k⁴, in agreement with the Tan relations. From the asymptotics of n(k), we determine the contact C as a function of T/ϵ(F) and present a comparison with theory.

Finite-temperature pairing gap of a unitary fermi gas by quantum monte carlo calculations.

We calculate the one-body temperature Green's (Matsubara) function of the unitary Fermi gas via quantum Monte Carlo, and extract the spectral weight function A(p,omega) using the methods of maximum entropy and singular value decomposition. From A(p,omega) we determine the quasiparticle spectrum, which can be accurately parametrized by three functions of temperature: an effective mass m{*}, a mean-field potential U, and a gap Delta. Below the critical temperature T{c}=0.

Is graphene in vacuum an insulator?

We present evidence, from lattice Monte Carlo simulations of the phase diagram of graphene as a function of the Coulomb coupling between quasiparticles, that graphene in vacuum is likely to be an insulator. We find a semimetal-insulator transition at alpha_{g};{crit}=1.11+/-0.

Thermodynamics of a trapped unitary Fermi gas.

We present the first model-independent comparison of recent measurements of the entropy and of the critical temperature of a unitary Fermi gas, performed by Luo et al., with the most complete results currently available from finite temperature Monte Carlo calculations. The measurement of the critical temperature in a cold fermionic atomic cloud is consistent with a value T(c) = 0.

Spin 1/2 fermions in the unitary regime: a superfluid of a new type.

We study, in a fully nonperturbative calculation, a dilute system of spin 1/2 interacting fermions, characterized by an infinite scattering length at finite temperatures. Various thermodynamic properties and the condensate fraction are calculated and we also determine the critical temperature for the superfluid-normal phase transition in this regime. The thermodynamic behavior appears as a rather surprising and unexpected mélange of fermionic and bosonic features.