1] Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France [2].
Nat Commun. 2014 Mar 20;5:3503. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4503.
Initially predicted in nuclear physics, Efimov trimers are bound configurations of three quantum particles that fall apart when any one of them is removed. They open a window into a rich quantum world that has become the focus of intense experimental and theoretical research, as the region of 'unitary' interactions, where Efimov trimers form, is now accessible in cold-atom experiments. Here we use a path-integral Monte Carlo algorithm backed up by theoretical arguments to show that unitary bosons undergo a first-order phase transition from a normal gas to a superfluid Efimov liquid, bound by the same effects as Efimov trimers. A triple point separates these two phases and another superfluid phase, the conventional Bose-Einstein condensate, whose coexistence line with the Efimov liquid ends in a critical point. We discuss the prospects of observing the proposed phase transitions in cold-atom systems.
最初在核物理学中预测到的Efimov 三聚体是三个量子粒子的束缚态，当其中任何一个被移除时就会解体。它们为我们打开了一扇通往丰富的量子世界的窗户，这个世界已经成为了实验和理论研究的焦点，因为现在在冷原子实验中可以进入“幺正”相互作用的区域，也就是 Efimov 三聚体形成的区域。在这里，我们使用路径积分蒙特卡罗算法，并辅以理论论证，表明幺正玻色子会经历从正常气体到超流 Efimov 液体的一级相变，这种束缚是由与 Efimov 三聚体相同的效应产生的。三相点将这两个相和另一个超流相——传统的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚态——分开，后者与 Efimov 液体的共存线在临界点结束。我们讨论了在冷原子系统中观察到所提出的相变的前景。
