2021/10/11 by Manfredi, Giovanni, Hervieux, Paul-Antoine, Hurst, Jérôme · 1 citation
#FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2110.05252
Quantum fluid (or hydrodynamic) models provide an attractive alternative for the modeling and simulation of the electron dynamics in nano-scale objects. Compared to more standard approaches, such as density functional theory or phase-space methods based on Wigner functions, fluid models require the solution of a small number of equations in ordinary space, implying a lesser computational cost. They are therefore well suited to study systems composed of a very large number of particles, such as large metallic nano-objects. They can be generalized to include the spin degrees of freedom, as well as semirelativistic effects such as the spin-orbit coupling. Here, we review the basic properties, advantages and limitations of quantum fluid models, and provide some examples of their applications.