Light atom quantum oscillations in UC and US
Yuen Yiu, A.A. Aczel, G.E. Granroth, D.L. Abernathy, M.B. Stone,, W.J.L. Buyers, J.Y.Y. Lin, G.D. Samolyuk, G.M. Stocks, and S.E. Nagler
TL;DR
This study investigates quantum oscillations of light atoms in UC and US using neutron scattering, revealing harmonic behavior in UC and weaker signals in US, with simulations supporting the harmonic oscillator model.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed neutron scattering analysis of quantum oscillations in UC and US, demonstrating harmonic oscillator behavior and differences explained by atomic properties.
Findings
Clear harmonic peaks observed in UC indicating quantum oscillations.
Weaker scattering signals in US suggest different vibrational dynamics.
Monte Carlo simulations closely match experimental data for UC.
Abstract
High energy vibrational scattering in the binary systems UC and US is measured using time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. A clear set of well-defined peaks equally separated in energy is observed in UC, corresponding to harmonic oscillations of the light C atoms in a cage of heavy U atoms. The scattering is much weaker in US and only a few oscillator peaks are visible. We show how the difference between the materials can be understood by considering the neutron scattering lengths and masses of the lighter atoms. Monte Carlo ray tracing is used to simulate the scattering, with near quantitative agreement with the data in UC, and some differences with US. The possibility of observing anharmonicity and anisotropy in the potentials of the light atoms is investigated in UC. Overall the observed data is well accounted for by considering each light atom as a single atom isotropic…
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