Pressure profiles of nonuniform two-dimensional atomic Fermi gases

Abstract

Spatial profiles of the pressure have been measured in atomic Fermi gases with primarily two-dimensional (2D) kinematics. The in-plane motion of the particles is confined by a Gaussian-shape potential. The two-component deeply degenerate Fermi gases are prepared at different values of the $s$-wave attraction. The pressure profile is found using the force-balance equation, from the measured density profile and the trapping potential. The pressure is compared to zero-temperature models within the local density approximation. In the weakly interacting regime, the pressure lies above a Landau Fermi-liquid theory and below the ideal-Fermi-gas model, whose prediction coincides with that of the Cooper-pair mean-field theory. The values closest to the data are provided by the approach where the mean field of Cooper pairs is supplemented with fluctuations. In the regime of strong interactions, in response to the increasing attraction, the pressure shifts below this model reaching lower values calculated within Monte Carlo methods. Comparison to models shows that interaction-induced departure from 2D kinematics is either small or absent. In particular, comparison with a lattice Monte Carlo suggests that kinematics is two dimensional in the strongly interacting regime.