Superfluidity of metastable bulk glass para-hydrogen at low temperature

Abstract

Molecular para-hydrogen has been proposed theoretically as a possible candidate for superfluidity, but the eventual superfluid transition is hindered by its crystallization. In this work, we study a metastable non crystalline phase of bulk p-H2 by means of the Path Integral Monte Carlo method in order to investigate at which temperature this system can support superfluidity. By choosing accurately the initial configuration and using a non commensurate simulation box, we have been able to frustrate the formation of the crystal in the simulated system and to calculate the temperature dependence of the one-body density matrix and of the superfluid fraction. We observe a transition to a superfluid phase at temperatures around 1 K. The limit of zero temperature is also studied using the diffusion Monte Carlo method. Results for the energy, condensate fraction, and structure of the metastable liquid phase at T=0 are reported and compared with the ones obtained for the stable solid phase.

10 pages, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

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• Superfluid behavior of quasi-1D p-H${}_2$ inside carbon nanotube
• Possible superfluidity of molecular hydrogen in a two-dimensional crystal phase of sodium
• Luttinger parameter of quasi-one-dimensional para-H2
• Equation of State and First Principles Prediction of the Vibrational Matrix Shift of Solid Parahydrogen
• Supersolidity in the second layer of $para$-H${}_2$ adsorbed on graphite
• Mixing Effects in the Crystallization of Supercooled Quantum Binary Liquids
• H2 superglass on an amorphous carbon substrate