Stability of small mixed clusters of 4He and 3He atoms

Abstract

The existence of small helium clusters containing a variable number of 4He and 3He atoms is studied within a variational Monte Carlo calculation employing the Aziz HFD-B(HE) pair interaction. The clusters 4He(2) support one and two 3He atoms; however, the system with three 3He atoms is metastable, and the next bound system requires at least 18 fermions. All clusters obtained by adding 3He atoms to the trimer 4He(3) and the tetramer 4He(4) are bound, but the clusters 4He(3)-3He(3,4,5) and 4He(3,4)-3He(9) are metastable. All remaining clusters with three or more bosons and any number of fermions are stable.