Finite-temperature phase diagram of trapped Fermi gases with population imbalance

Abstract

We consider a trapped Fermi gas with population imbalance at finite temperatures and map out the detailed phase diagram across a wide Feshbach resonance. We take the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrel (LOFF) state into consideration and minimize the thermodynamical potential to ensure stability. Under the local density approximation, we conclude that a stable LOFF state is present only on the BCS side of the Feshbach resonance, but not on the BEC side or at unitarity. Furthermore, even on the BCS side, a LOFF state is restricted at low temperatures and in a small region of the trap, which makes a direct observation of a LOFF state a challenging task.