We analyze the ground-state and low-temperature properties of a one-dimensional Bose gas in a harmonic trapping potential using the numerical density-matrix renormalization group. Calculations cover the whole range from the Bogoliubov limit of weak interactions to the Tonks-Girardeau limit. Local quantities such as density and local three-body correlations are calculated and shown to agree very well with analytic predictions within a local-density approximation. The transition between temperature-dominated to quantum-dominated correlation is determined. It is shown that despite the presence of the harmonic trapping potential, first-order correlations display, over a large range, the algebraic decay of a harmonic fluid with a Luttinger parameter determined by the density at the trap center.

• Received 16 August 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.75.021601