Quantum Monte Carlo study of static properties of one He-3 atom in superfluid He-4

The local environment and the energetic properties of one He-3 atom solved in bulk superfluid He-4 are studied by means of the diffusion Monte Carlo m ethod. The chemical potential of the He-3 impurity is calculated with a gen eralized reweighting method which allows for a reliable estimation of this quantity. Results for the chemical potential, radial distribution and struc ture functions, volume-excess parameter, and effective mass are given for s everal pressures and compared with available experimental data. An overall agreement with experiment is obtained except for the kinetic energy of the He-3 atom which, in accordance with previous theoretical estimations, appea rs to be considerably larger than determinations from deep-inelastic neutro n scattering. [S0163-1829(99)11713-2].