Workshop on Quantum Hydrodynamics (QHD)

Many-electron systems that display quantum effects are ubiquitous in such disparate fields as nanoscience and technology, dense matter physics, and astrophysics. Current theoretical and computational tools, such as time-dependent density-functional theory and quantum kinetic theory, work well for relatively small objects, but are too heavy to cope with large systems containing many thousands of electrons over experimentally-relevant large simulation times. Quantum hydrodynamics (QHD) is a good candidate for this intermediate level of description. QHD addresses the time-dependent electron response using a small number of fluid-like equations for the electron density, current, and pressure, and can incorporate such crucial features as nonlocal, nonlinear, quantum, exchange-correlation, and finite-temperature effects. QHD is an appealing level of description for nanoplasmonics applications: light enough to allow the study of large nano-objects, but detailed enough to capture most of the key physical effects. Besides, QHD finds other important applications, particularly to astrophysics (compact objects such as neutron stars and pulsars), high-density plasmas generated by laser pulses (warm dense matter regime, inertial fusion), and cold atomic gases (Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluid fermionic gases).