Incorporating exact two-body propagators for zero-range interactions into $N$-body Monte Carlo simulations

Ultracold atomic gases are, to a very good approximation, described by pairwise zero-range interactions. This paper demonstrates that $N$-body systems with two-body zero-range interactions can be treated reliably and efficiently by the finite temperature and ground state path integral Monte Carlo approaches, using the exact two-body propagator for zero-range interactions in the pair product approximation. Harmonically trapped one- and three-dimensional systems are considered. A new propagator for the harmonically trapped two-body system with infinitely strong zero-range interaction, which may also have applications in real time evolution schemes, is presented.