Collective many-body bounce in the breathing-mode oscillations of a Tonks-Girardeau gas

Abstract: We analyse the breathing-mode oscillations of a harmonically quenched Tonks-Giradeau (TG) gas using an exact finite-temperature dynamical theory. We predict a striking collective manifestation of impenetrability---a collective many-body bounce effect. The effect, while being invisible in the evolution of the in-situ density profile of the gas, can be revealed through a nontrivial periodic narrowing of its momentum distribution, taking place at twice the rate of the fundamental breathing-mode frequency. We identify physical regimes for observing the many-body bounce and construct the respective nonequilibrium phase diagram as a function of the quench strength and the initial temperature of the gas. We also develop a finite-temperature hydrodynamic theory of the TG gas, wherein the many-body bounce is explained by an increased thermodynamic pressure of the gas during the isentropic compression, which acts as a potential barrier at the inner turning points of the breathing cycle.