Nonequilibrium kinetics of neutral atoms confined in a harmonic potential

K.J. Coakley

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1996, vol. 234, issue 1, 407-426

Abstract: The nonequilibrium behavior of neutral atoms confined in a harmonic potential is simulated by a Monte Carlo method. Atoms obey Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. Initially, the probability distribution function (pdf) for each of the three energy components, Ex, Ey and Ez, is taken to be a truncated exponential with cutoff Ec. Collisions between atoms are simulated assuming s wave scattering in the center-of-mass frame. Because the energy distributions in the three different dimensions were indistinguishable, all three energy components are assumed to have the same pdf. The time-varying pdf for the energy components is modeled as a mixture of two pdf's. Each of the two pdf's in the mixture is a truncated exponential; one applies to energies below the cutoff, the other pdf applies to energies above the cutoff. Each truncated exponential is characterized by a time-dependent decay parameter. A statistical model for the time-dependent decay parameters, and a mixture parameter, is developed.

Keywords: Nonequilibrium kinetics; Atomic collisions; s wave scattering; Harmonic potential; Monte Carlo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:234:y:1996:i:1:p:407-426

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(96)00272-5

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