Strongly Interacting One-dimensional Systems with Small Mass Imbalance

Abstract

We study a strongly interacting system of N identical bosons and one impurity in a one-dimensional trap. First, we assume that the particles have identical masses and analyze the corresponding set-up. After that, we study the influence of a small mass asymmetry on our analysis. In particular, we discuss how the structure of the wave function and the degeneracy in the impenetrable regime depend on the mass ratio and the shape of the trapping potential. To illustrate our findings, we consider a four-body system in a box and in an oscillator. We show that in the former case the system has the smallest energy when a heavy (light) impurity is close to the edge (center) of the trap. And we demonstrate that the opposite is true in the latter case.