Semiclassical Modeling of Multiparticle Quantum Mechanics
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Semiclassical Modeling of Quantum-Mechanical Multiparticle Systems using Parallel Particle-In-Cell Methods A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Physics by Dean Edward Dauger 2001 © Copyright by Dean Edward Dauger 2001 To my parents, Alan and Marlene, who were always fully supportive of my work and my endeavors. And Charlie and Allegra, my cats. And to all those who have a vision, a dream of something new and inspiring, to express that Idea, limited only by its own conclusion if it has one. iii Contents I. Introduction A. Motivation ···················································································1 B. Existing Methods ···················································································6 C. Outline ···················································································8 D. Conventions ···················································································9 II. Theory A. The Approach ·················································································11 B. Feynman Path Integrals···············································································13 C. The Semiclassical Approximation·······························································18 D. Initial Position and Final Momentum·························································21 E. The Matrix ··················································································23 F. The Determinant ··················································································26 G. Summary ··················································································30 III. Implementation A. The Numbers ··················································································32 B. The Plasma PIC Code ··················································································36 C. The Quantum PIC Code ··············································································42 iv D. Boundary Conditions ··················································································53 E. Simulation Parameters·················································································56 F. Alternative Implementations······································································60 IV. Validation A. Output ··················································································61 B. Free-Space Gaussian ··················································································62 C. Simple Harmonic Oscillator·········································································67 D. Infinite Square Well ··················································································74 E. Barriers ··················································································80 F. Fermion Statistics ··················································································83 V. The One-Dimensional Atom A. The Problem ··················································································92 B. The One-Electron Case·················································································93 C. The Two-Electron Case················································································97 D. Eigenstate Extraction ················································································100 E. Conclusion ················································································106 VI. Energy Fluctuations in a Plasma A. The Problem ················································································107 v B. The Model and the Analysis······································································111 C. Implementation ················································································112 D. Proper Comparison ················································································114 E. Quantum Theory and Simulation ····························································122 F. Conclusion ················································································131 VII. Future Work A. The Future ················································································137 B. One Dimension ················································································138 C. Higher Dimensions ················································································141 D. Evolution of the Implementation·····························································146 E. Evolution of the Methods··········································································150 F. Conclusion ················································································159 VIII. Appendix A - Development of a New Code A. Experimentation ················································································160 B. Virtual Particle Distribution·······································································161 C. Alternative Depositing···············································································163 vi IX. Appendix B - The Quantum PIC Source Code A. Source Code ················································································170 B. Main Program ················································································170 C. External Potential ················································································188 D. Particle Preparation ················································································190 E. Particle Push ················································································197 F. Wavefunction Reconstruction/Particle Deposit·····································200 X. Appendix C - Source Code for Visualization and Data Formats A. Visualization ················································································213 B. Quantum Correlation Analysis, Eigenstate Extraction, and Data Reader ················································································216 XI. References ················································································260 vii List of Figures Figure Page 1 An arbitrary path from x0 to xN . 17 2 A classical path is shown, accompanied by variations on that path. 20 3 Particles in space overlaid with a grid in one dimension. 38 4 Simplified flow chart for the plasma PIC code. 39 5 Particles in space partitioned into four cells. 41 6 Simplified flow chart for the quantum PIC code. 44 7 A virtual classical particle reflecting at one-half grid point behind the l (x = 0) = 0 boundary of the well. 55 8 Four frames of the evolution of a stationary Gaussian in free space. 64 9 Four frames of the evolution of the ground state of the simple harmonic oscillator. 69 10 Frames from simulations of the n =1 , n = 5 , and n = 7 eigenstates of the simple harmonic oscillator. 70 11 Three frames from the evolution of an arbitrarily chosen superposition of the n = 0 , n =1 , n = 5 , and n = 7 eigenstates of the simple harmonic oscillator. 72 12 Energy spectrum of the simulation shown in Figure 11. 73 13 A moving Gaussian bouncing off a wall of the infinite square well. 75 viii 14 Example eigenstates of the infinite square well. 78 15 Evolution of a Gaussian wavefunction colliding with a square barrier. 82 16 A pair of frames each from a pair of wavefunctions in an infinite square well. 85 17 Energy spectrum from the evolution of a fermion pair initialized using the five lowest energy eigenstates of the infinite square well. 88 18 Energy spectrum from the evolution of a fermion pair initialized using arbitrarily chosen Gaussians. 90 19 Frames from the evolution of an electron bound to a one-dimensional atom. 95 20 Energy spectrum of a simulation shown in Figure 19. 96 21 Four frames from two-electrons bound to a one-dimensional atom. 98 22 Energy spectrum of the fermionic two-electron simulation shown in Figure 21. 99 23 Five energy eigenstates extracted from the one-electron one-dimensional atom simulation seen in Figure 19. 102 24 Five two-electron fermionic eigenstates of the one-dimensional atom. 104 25 Placement of initial positions of the particles for the hot plasma. 113 26 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma assuming classical theory. 116 ix 27 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma using a 128-particle plasma simulation that assumes classical theory. 118 28 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma using a 12,800-particle plasma simulation that assumes classical theory. 119 29 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma using a 1,024,000-particle plasma simulation that assumes classical theory. 121 30 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma using quantum theory and classical theory. 124 31 Three frames from the evolution of a set of Gaussians representing a hot plasma. 126 32 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma, shown in Figure 31, while including quantum-mechanical effects. 128 33 A comparison against a classical simulation of the energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma, shown in Figure 31, while accounting for quantum-mechanical effects. 129 34 Energy spectra of the longitudinal electric field in a hot plasma at low k while accounting for quantum-mechanical effects. 133 35 A comparison of runs using randomly