Momentum Distribution Dynamics of a Tonks-Girardeau Gas: Bragg Reflections of a Quantum Many-Body Wave Packet

Abstract

The momentum distribution (MD) dynamics of a Tonks-Girardeau (TG) gas is studied in the context of Bragg reflections of a many-body wave packet. We find strong suppression of a Bragg reflection peak for a large and dense TG wave packet; our observation illustrates the dependence of the MD on the interactions and wave function symmetry. The MD is calculated from the reduced single-particle density matrix (RSPDM). We develop a method for calculating the RSPDM of a TG gas, which is operative for a large number of particles, and does not depend on the external potential and the state of the system. The method is based on a formula expressing the RSPDM via a dynamically evolving single-particle basis.