One-dimensional multicomponent Fermi gas in a trap: quantum Monte Carlo study

Abstract

A one-dimensional world is very unusual as there is an interplay between quantum statistics and geometry, and a strong short-range repulsion between atoms mimics Fermi exclusion principle, fermionizing the system. Instead, a system with a large number of components with a single atom in each, on the opposite acquires many bosonic properties. We study the ground-state properties of a multicomponent repulsive Fermi gas trapped in a harmonic trap by a fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo method. The interaction between all components is considered to be the same. We investigate how the energetic properties (energy, contact) and correlation functions (density profile and momentum distribution) evolve as the number of components is changed. It is shown that the system fermionizes in the limit of strong interactions. Analytical expressions are derived in the limit of weak interactions within the local density approximation for an arbitrary number of components and for one plus one particle using an exact solution.