Metal atom clusters and crystallization of 2D electron systems at finite temperature

• Grant number: 12/16264-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: August 10, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Hai Guoqiang
• Grantee: Braulio Gabriel Alencar Brito
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 13/20382-5 - Quantum Monte Carlo study on excitonic condensation in double graphene electron-hole bilayers, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

This project is composed by two parts based on current researches in our group. One is aimed to study the electronic structures of metal atom clusters and the other is related to some fundamental problems of many electron systems such as finite temperature effects on the ground state of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems. The study on atom clusters is a new research line in our group. This year, we have published one paper dealing with an application of quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations to study the impact of electron correlations on the electronic structures of small aluminum clusters. We are working to accumulate more experiences on this subject and the current proposal is also part of our research project supported by FAPESP (Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular; Proc. 2012/50239-7). In this project, we are going to study (i) the doping effect in the Al13 cluster by one extra atom such as Cu, Ag e Au; and (ii) the aromaticity effect in bimetallic cluster systems formed by (MAl4)- (M=Li, Na, Rb, Cu, Ag e Au), known as all-metal aromatic clusters. The second part of the project is within an established research line in our group. We are studying the "solid-liquid" transitions of spin polarized and non-polarized 2D Wigner crystal at finite temperature. We have obtained the phase diagram of the system. However, the solid-liquid phase transitions with higher precision need to be determined by calculating the free energy of the system. In both cases, we are using quantum Monte Carlo as the principle method for our calculations. (AU)