Ground-State Properties of Unitary Bosons: From Clusters to Matter

Area of Science:

• Quantum physics
• Ultracold atomic gases
• Few-body physics

Background:

• Cold Bose gases at unitarity are a key area of research.
• Understanding their properties is crucial for quantum physics.
• Previous studies have explored these systems theoretically and experimentally.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the universal properties of cold Bose gases.
• To study both finite clusters and bulk matter.
• To demonstrate the saturation of energy and density in finite clusters.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing interactions tuned to two-body unitarity and weak three-body binding.
• Determining universal properties of finite clusters up to 60 particles.
• Comparing properties of finite clusters with bulk matter.

Main Results:

• Explicit demonstration of energy and density saturation with particle number in finite clusters.
• Determination of bulk properties at saturation: energy, density, two- and three-body contacts, and condensate fraction.
• Uniform matter found to be significantly more bound than three-body clusters; high two-body contact and >90% condensate fraction observed.

Conclusions:

• Cold Bose gases exhibit universal properties in both cluster and bulk forms.
• Saturation phenomena are evident in finite systems, mirroring bulk behavior.
• Experimental accessibility of equilibrium properties is possible via rapid quenching of superfluids.