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The Boltzmann equation is a powerful theoretical tool for modeling the collective dynamics of quantum many-body systems subject to external perturbations. Analysis of the equation gives access to linear response properties including collective modes and transport coefficients, but often proves intractable due to computational costs associated with multidimensional integrals describing collision processes. Here, we present a method to resolve this bottleneck, enabling the study of a broad class of many-body systems that appear in fundamental science contexts and technological applications. Specifically, we demonstrate that a Gaussian mixture model can accurately represent equilibrium distribution functions, thereby allowing efficient evaluation of collision integrals. Inspired by cold atom experiments, we apply this method to investigate the collective behavior of a quantum Bose-Fermi mixture of cold atoms in a cigar-shaped trap, a system that is particularly challenging to analyze. We focus on monopole and quadrupole collective modes above the Bose-Einstein transition temperature, and find a rich phenomenology that spans interference effects between bosonic and fermionic collective modes, dampening of these modes, and the emergence of hydrodynamics in various parameter regimes. These effects are readily verifiable experimentally. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

The emergence of quasiparticles in interacting matter represents one of the cornerstones of modern physics. However, in the vicinity of a quantum critical point, the existence of quasiparticles comes under question. Here, we created Bose polarons near quantum criticality by immersing atomic impurities in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with near-resonant interactions. Using radiofrequency spectroscopy, we probed the energy, spectral width, and short-range correlations of the impurities as a function of temperature. Far below the superfluid critical temperature, the impurities formed well-defined quasiparticles. Their inverse lifetime, given by their spectral width, increased linearly with temperature at the so-called Planckian scale, consistent with quantum critical behavior. Close to the BEC critical temperature, the spectral width exceeded the impurity’s binding energy, signaling a breakdown of the quasiparticle picture.