Momentum distribution dynamics of a Tonks-Girardeau gas: Bragg reflections of a quantum many-body wave packet
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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
1Faculty of Metallurgy, University of Zagreb, Aleja narodnih heroja 3, 44000 Sisak, Croatia.
Abstract:
The momentum distribution (MD) dynamics of a Tonks-Girardeau (TG) gas is studied in the context of Bragg reflections of a many-body wave packet. We find strong suppression of a Bragg reflection peak for a large and dense TG wave packet; our observation illustrates the dependence of the MD on the interactions and wave function symmetry. The MD is calculated from the reduced single-particle density matrix (RSPDM). We develop a method for calculating the RSPDM of a TG gas, which is operative for a large number of particles, and does not depend on the external potential and the state of the system. The method is based on a formula expressing the RSPDM via a dynamically evolving single-particle basis.
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