Atomic Fermi Gas Research Articles

Production of Degenerate Fermi Gases of 6Li Atoms in an Optical Dipole TrapSupported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0301503), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674358, 11434015, and 11974384), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. YJKYYQ20170025), and K. C. Wong Education Foundation (Grant No. GJTD-2019-15).

We report the experimental production of degenerate Fermi gases of 6Li atoms in an optical dipole trap. The gray-molasses technique is carried out to decrease the atomic temperature to 57 μK, which facilitates the efficient loading of cold atoms into the optical dipole trap. The Fermi degeneracy is achieved by evaporative cooling of a two-spin mixture of 6Li atoms on the Feshbach resonance. The degenerate atom number per spin is 3.5 × 104, and the reduced temperature T/T F is as low as 0.1, where T F is the Fermi temperature of the non-interacting Fermi gas. We also observe the anisotropic expansion of the atom cloud in the strongly interacting regime.

Spin Susceptibility above the Superfluid Onset in Ultracold Fermi Gases

Ultracold atomic Fermi gases can be tuned to interact strongly, which produces a display of spectroscopic signatures above the superfluid transition reminiscent of the pseudogap in cuprates. However, the extent of the analogy can be questioned since many thermodynamic quantities in the low temperature spin-imbalanced normal state can be described successfully using Fermi liquid theory. Here we present spin susceptibility measurements across the interaction strength-temperature phase diagram using a novel radio frequency technique with ultracold ^{6}Li gases. For all significant interaction strengths and at all temperatures we find the spin susceptibility is reduced compared to the equivalent value for a noninteracting Fermi gas. At unitarity, we can use the local density approximation to extract the integrated spin susceptibility for the uniform gas as a function of temperature, which at high temperatures is generally less than theoretically predicted. At low temperatures, our data lie within the range of theoretical predictions, although we can also describe the entire curve using a very simple one-parameter mean field model with monotonically increasing spin susceptibility.

Ground state of the polaron in an ultracold dipolar Fermi gas

An impurity atom immersed in an ultracold atomic Fermi gas can form a quasiparticle, so-called Fermi polaron, due to impurity-fermion interaction. We consider a three-dimensional homogeneous dipolar Fermi gas as a medium, where the interatomic dipole-dipole interaction (DDI) makes the Fermi surface deformed into a spheroidal shape, and, using a Chevy-type variational method, investigate the ground-state properties of the Fermi polaron: the effective mass, the momentum distribution of a particle-hole excitation, the drag parameter, and the medium-density modification around the impurity. These quantities are shown to exhibit spatial anisotropies in such a way as to reflect the momentum anisotropy of the background dipolar Fermi gas. We also give numerical results for the polaron properties at the unitarity limit of the impurity-fermion interaction in the case in which the impurity and fermion masses are equal. It has been found that the transverse effective mass and the transverse momentum drag parameter of the polaron both tend to decrease by $\ensuremath{\sim}10%$ when the DDI strength is raised from 0 up to around its critical value, while the longitudinal ones exhibit a very weak dependence on the DDI.

Laser cooling of transition-metal atoms

We propose the application of laser cooling to a number of transition-metal atoms, allowing numerous bosonic and fermionic atomic gases to be cooled to ultra-low temperatures. The non-zero electron orbital angular momentum of these atoms implies that strongly atom-state-dependent light-atom interactions occur even for light that is far-detuned from atomic transitions. At the same time, many transition-metal atoms have small magnetic dipole moments in their low-energy states, reducing the rate of dipolar-relaxation collisions. Altogether, these features provide compelling opportunities for future ultracold-atom research. Focusing on the case of atomic titanium, we identify the metastable $a ^5F_5$ state as supporting a $J \rightarrow J+1$ optical transition with properties similar to the D2 transition of alkali atoms, and suited for laser cooling. The high total angular momentum and electron spin of this state suppresses leakage out of the the nearly closed optical transition to a branching ratio estimated below $\sim 10^{-5}$. Following the pattern exemplified by titanium, we identify optical transitions that are suited for laser cooling of elements in the scandium group (Sc, Y, La), the titanium group (Ti, Zr), the vanadium group (V, Nb), the manganese group (Mn, Tc), and the iron group (Fe, Ru).

Pair correlations in the normal phase of an attractive Fermi gas

In a recent paper (2019 Phys. Rev. A 99, 053617), the total number of fermion pairs in a spin-balanced two-component Fermi gas of 6Li atoms was experimentally probed in the normal phase above the superfluid critical temperature, in order to investigate the sectors of pseudogap and preformed-pair in the temperature–coupling phase diagram. Here, we present a theoretical account of these experimental results in terms of an ab initio self-consistent t-matrix calculation, which emphasizes the role of the pair-correlation function between opposite-spin fermions at equilibrium. Good agreement is found between the available experimental data and the theoretical results obtained with no adjustable parameter.

Superfluidity and pairing phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases in one-dimensional optical lattices. II. Effects of population imbalance

In this paper, we study the effect of population imbalance and its interplay with pairing strength and lattice effect in atomic Fermi gases in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We compute various phase diagrams as the system undergoes BCS-BEC crossover, using the same pairing fluctuation theory as in Part I of this work [Phys. Rev. A 101, 053617 (2020)]. We find widespread pseudogap phenomena beyond the BCS regime and intermediate temperature superfluid states for relatively low population imbalances. The Fermi surface topology plays an important role in the behavior of ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$. For large $d$ and/or small $t$, which yield an open Fermi surface, superfluidity can be readily destroyed by a small amount of population imbalance $p$. The superfluid phase, especially in the BEC regime, can exist only for a highly restricted volume of the parameter space. An open Fermi surface often leads to destruction of the superfluid ground state in the BEC regime. Due to the continuum-lattice mixing, population imbalance gives rise to a new mechanism for pair hopping, as assisted by excessive majority fermions, which may lead to significant enhancement of ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ on the BEC side of the Feshbach resonance, and also render ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ approaching a constant asymptote in the BEC limit, when it exists. Furthermore, we find that not all minority fermions will be paired up in BEC limit, unlike the 3D continuum case. These predictions can be tested in future experiments.

Superfluidity and pairing phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases in one-dimensional optical lattices. I. Balanced case

The superfluidity and pairing phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases have been of great interest in recent years, with multiple tunable parameters. Here we study the BCS-BEC crossover behavior of balanced two-component Fermi gases in a one-dimensional optical lattice, which is distinct from the simple three-dimensional (3D) continuum and a fully 3D lattice often found in a condensed matter system. We use a pairing fluctuation theory which includes self-consistent feedback effects at finite temperatures, and find widespread pseudogap phenomena beyond the BCS regime. As a consequence of the lattice periodicity, the superfluid transition temperature $T_c$ decreases with pairing strength in the BEC regime, where it approaches asymptotically $T_c = \pi an/2m$, with $a$ being the $s$-wave scattering length, and $n$ ($m$) the fermion density (mass). In addition, the quasi-two dimensionality leads to fast growing (absolute value of the) fermionic chemical potential $\mu$ and pairing gap $\Delta$, which depends exponentially on the ratio $d/a$. Importantly, $T_c$ at unitarity increases with the lattice constant $d$ and hopping integral $t$. The effect of the van Hove singularity on $T_c$ is identified. The superfluid density exhibits $T^{3/2}$ power laws at low $T$, away from the extreme BCS limit. These predictions can be tested in future experiments.

Fulde-Ferrell states in unequally charged Fermi gases

Atoms with different internal states can exhibit different responses to an artificial magnetic field. An atomic gas mixture of two different components can therefore be interpreted as a mixture of two atomic gases carrying different synthetic charges. We consider the superfluid state of such unequally charged Fermi gases coupled to a magnetic field via the orbital effect and trapped in a torus geometry. The orbital coupling to the magnetic field favors an inhomogeneous superfluid state with optimum finite center-of-mass momentum pairing. The resulting population-balanced orbital Fulde-Ferrell (FF) state is robust against the magnetic field and does not undergo pair breaking unlike the conventional BCS and Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov type pairing states under the Zeeman effect. We contrast the homogeneous and inhomogeneous cases emphasizing the advantages of the unequally charged systems and present their momentum distributions. We conclude that an unequally charged atomic Fermi gas system orbitally coupled to an artificial magnetic field provides an ideal candidate for experimental realization of the FF state.

Finite-size effects on the cluster expansions for quantum gases in restricted geometries

We have analytically obtained 1-particle density matrices for ideal Bose and Fermi gases in both the 3-D box geometries and the harmonically trapped geometries for the entire range of temperature. We have obtained quantum cluster expansions of the grand free energies in closed forms for the same systems in the restricted geometries. We have thoeremed (with a proof) about the generic form of the quantum cluster integral. We also have considered short ranged interactions in our analyses for the quasi 1-D cases of Bose and Fermi gases in the box geometries. Our theoretical results are exact, and are directly useful for understanding finite-size effects on quantum cluster expansion of Bose and Fermi gases in the restricted geometries. Our results would be relevant in the context of experimental study of spatial correlations in ultra-cold systems of dilute Bose and Fermi gases of alkali atoms (i) in 3-D magneto-optical box traps with quasi-uniform potential around the center [], and (ii) in 3-D harmonic traps [, ].

Collective-mode dispersion of atomic Fermi gases in a honeycomb optical lattice: Speed of sound of the attractive Kane–Mele–Hubbard model at half filling

We examine the superfluid states that emerge in the Kane–Mele model as a result of the on-site short-range attractive interaction U. The collective-mode dispersion is defined by the solutions of the Bethe–Salpeter (BS) equation in the generalized random phase approximation. The slope of the low-energy (Goldstone) mode and the corresponding sound velocity at half filling, calculated within the BS formalism, has been compared with the corresponding results obtained previously by the T-matrix approximation. The difference between the two approaches is that the T-matrix approximation takes into account only the ladder diagrams, and neglects the bubble ones. For this reason, the sound velocity in the direction toward point M, calculated within the T-matrix approximation, is about 4% less than the result obtained by employing the BS equation.

Unusual Destruction and Enhancement of Superfluidity of Atomic Fermi Gases by Population Imbalance in a One-Dimensional Optical Lattice**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11774309 and 11674283) and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province of China (Grant No. LZ13A040001).

We study the superfluid behavior of a population imbalanced ultracold atomic Fermi gases with a short range attractive interaction in a one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice, using a pairing fluctuation theory. We show that, besides widespread pseudogap phenomena and intermediate temperature superfluidity, the superfluid phase is readily destroyed except in a limited region of the parameter space. We find a new mechanism for pair hopping, assisted by the excessive majority fermions, in the presence of continuum-lattice mixing, which leads to an unusual constant Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) asymptote for Tc that is independent of pairing strength. In result, on the BEC side of unitarity, superfluidity, when it exists, may be strongly enhanced by population imbalance.

Exact solutions of a model for synthetic anyons in a noninteracting system

Synthetic anyons can be implemented in a noninteracting many-body system, by using specially tailored localized (physical) probes, which supply the demanded nontrivial topology in the system. We consider the Hamiltonian for noninteracting electrons in two-dimensions (2D), in a uniform magnetic field, where the probes are external solenoids with a magnetic flux that is a fraction of the flux quantum. The Hamiltonian could also be implemented in an ultracold (fermionic) atomic gas in 2D, in a uniform synthetic magnetic field, where the probes are lasers giving rise to synthetic solenoid gauge potentials. We find analytically and numerically the ground state of this system when only the lowest Landau level states are occupied. It is shown that the ground state is anyonic in the coordinates of the probes. We show that these synthetic anyons cannot be considered as emergent quasiparticles. The fusion rules of synthetic anyons are discussed for different microscopic realizations of the fusion process.

Exploring emergent heterogeneous phases in strongly repulsive Fermi gases

Recent experiments have revitalized the interest in a Fermi gas of ultracold atoms with strong repulsive interactions. In spite of its seeming simplicity, this system exhibits a complex behavior, resulting from the competing action of two distinct instabilities: ferromagnetism, which promotes spin anticorrelations and domain formation; and pairing, that renders the repulsive fermionic atoms unstable towards forming weakly bound bosonic molecules. The breakdown of the homogeneous repulsive Fermi liquid arising from such concurrent mechanisms has been recently observed in real time through pump-probe spectroscopic techniques [A. Amico et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 253602 (2018)]. These studies also lead to the discovery of an emergent metastable many-body state, an unpredicted quantum emulsion of anticorrelated fermions and pairs. Here, we investigate in detail the properties of such an exotic regime by studying the evolution of kinetic and release energies, the spectral response and coherence of the unpaired fermionic population, and its spin-density noise correlations. All our observations consistently point to a low-temperature heterogeneous phase, where paired and unpaired fermions macroscopically coexist while featuring micro-scale phase separation. Our findings open new appealing avenues for the exploration of quantum emulsions and also possibly of inhomogeneous superfluid regimes, where pair condensation may coexist with magnetic order.

Application of Grassmann phase space theory to Cooper pair model

This paper concerns the application of Grassmann phase space theory (GSPT) to treat the dynamical evolution of systems of identical fermions, such as ultracold gases of fermionic atoms. Phase space theory (which originated from quantum optics) is increasing in importance since it overcomes certain issues associated with other theoretical methods, such as Greens functions, variational methods, quantum-Monte-Carlo equations, etc. In phase-space theory quantum states are represented by quasi-probability distribution functions of phase space variables associated with canonical system operators—such as annihilation, creation operators. Evolution is described via a Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function, which is equivalent to Ito stochastic equations for (time dependent) stochastic phase space variables. Quantum correlation functions given as averages of products of phase space variables over the quasi-probability distributions then become stochastic averages of products of stochastic phase space variables. In GSPT, the phase space variables are Grassmann numbers, but as computer representation of g-numbers is difficult, Grassmann phase space methods were regarded as being computationally inaccessible. However, previous work using the un-normalised B distribution shows that computer representation of Grassmann variables is unnecessary. Stochastic averages of products for quantum correlation functions at later times are related linearly to stochastic averages at earlier times via stochastic matrices only involving c-numbers. Thus, GSPT calculations of quantum correlation functions now only involve c-number computations. This paper presents the first correct numerical calculation of a quantum correlation function for a fermionic system using stochastic methods based on Grassmann phase space theory, namely the time dependence of the coherence between two Cooper pair states in a four-mode fermion system, where the short and finite time solutions can be compared to known exact results. Good agreement between the stochastic and exact results is found, showing that GPST is a valid approach for treating fermionic systems. The treatment of time evolution involves a novel use of the eigenvalues and biorthogonal column eigenvectors of a stochastically determined c-number matrix M and its transpose. Other topics of interest in ultra-cold fermi gases for which the GSPT could be applied are highlighted, such as the strong interaction regime for the BEC/BCS crossover achieved using magnetically tuned Feshbach resonance techniques.

Superfluid Phase Transitions and Effects of Thermal Pairing Fluctuations in Asymmetric Nuclear Matter

We investigate superfluid phase transitions of asymmetric nuclear matter at finite temperature (T) and density (ρ) with a low proton fraction (Yp ≤ 0.2), which is relevant to the inner crust and outer core of neutron stars. A strong-coupling theory developed for two-component atomic Fermi gases is generalized to the four-component case, and is applied to the system of spin-1/2 neutrons and protons. The phase shifts of neutron-neutron (nn), proton-proton (pp) and neutron-proton (np) interactions up to k = 2 fm−1 are described by multi-rank separable potentials. We show that the critical temperature {{boldsymbol{T}}}_{{bf{c}}}^{{bf{n}}{bf{n}}} of the neutron superfluidity at Yp = 0 agrees well with Monte Carlo data at low densities and takes a maximum value {{boldsymbol{T}}}_{{bf{c}}}^{{bf{n}}{bf{n}}}= 1.68 MeV at {boldsymbol{rho }}{boldsymbol{/}}{{boldsymbol{rho }}}_{{bf{0}}}{boldsymbol{=}}{bf{0.14}} with ρ0 = 0.17 fm−3. Also, the critical temperature {{boldsymbol{T}}}_{{bf{c}}}^{{bf{n}}{bf{n}}} of the proton superconductivity for Yp ≤ 0.2 is substantially suppressed at low densities due to np-pairing fluctuations, and starts to dominate over {{boldsymbol{T}}}_{{bf{c}}}^{{bf{n}}{bf{n}}} only above {boldsymbol{rho }}{boldsymbol{/}}{{boldsymbol{rho }}}_{{bf{0}}}{boldsymbol{=}}{bf{0.70}}(0.77) for Yp = 0.1(0.2), and (iii) the deuteron condensation temperature {{boldsymbol{T}}}_{{bf{c}}}^{{bf{d}}} is suppressed at Yp ≤ 0.2 due to a large mismatch of the two Fermi surfaces.

Fluid structure of 1D spinful Fermi gases with long-range interactions

We discuss the fluid structure in the quantum phases of a 1D spinful Fermi gas of atoms interacting via an infinitely long-range coupling, as it may result from a photon-mediated two-body coupling in optical cavities. The system reveals a rich physics, where the spin/charge-density wave and superfluid-like order compete with each other. Following our previous work based on a combined mean-field, exact diagonalization and bosonization analysis, we provide the phase diagram of the system and discuss the structure of the fluid, addressing the main features in momentum space of the order parameters, momentum distribution and two-body correlations. We highlight that the nesting of the Fermi surface in 1D ultimately drives the formation of periodic structures commensurate with the cavity-induced mean-field potential.

Ultra high temperature superfluidity in ultracold atomic Fermi gases with mixed dimensionality

Achieving a higher superfluid transition $T_c$ has been a goal for the fields of superconductivity and atomic Fermi gases. Here we propose that, by using mixed dimensionality, one may achieve ultra high temperature superfluids in two component atomic Fermi gases, where one component feels a regular three-dimensional (3D) continuum space, while the other is subject to a 1D optic lattice potential. Via tuning the lattice spacing and trap depth, one can effectively raise the Fermi level dramatically upon pairing so that superfluidity may occur at an ultra high temperature (in units of Fermi energy) even beyond the quantum degeneracy regime, well surpassing that in an ordinary 3D Fermi gas and all other known superfluids and superconductors.

Experimental Realization of Degenerate Fermi Gases of 87Sr Atoms with 10 or Two Spin Components**Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant Nos 2016YFA0300901 and 2018YFA0305601, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No 11874073, and the International Center for Quantum Materials of Peking University.

We report the experimental realization of quantum degenerate Fermi gases of 87Sr atoms under controlled 10- and dual-nuclear-spin configurations. Based on laser cooling and evaporative cooling, we achieve an ultracold Fermi gas of 105 atoms equally distributed over 10 spin states, with a temperature of T/TF=0.21. We further prepare a dual-spin gas by optically pumping atoms to the mF=9/2 and mF=7/2 states and observe a slightly lower T/TF than that for a 10-spin gas under the same trapping condition, showing efficient evaporative cooling under a decreasing number of spin states () despite the increasing importance of Pauli exclusion. Given that rethermalization becomes less efficient with approaching unity, we evaporatively cool an almost polarized gas to 130 nK. The simple and efficient preparation of ultracold Fermi gases of 87Sr with tunable spin configurations provides a first step towards engineering topological quantum systems.

Resonantly interacting p -wave Fermi superfluid in two dimensions: Tan's contact and the breathing mode

Inspired by the renewed experimental activities on $p$-wave resonantly interacting atomic Fermi gases, we theoretically investigate some experimental observables of such systems at zero temperature in two dimensions, using both mean-field theory and Gaussian pair fluctuation theory. These observables include the two $p$-wave contact parameters and the breathing mode frequency, which can be readily measured in current cold-atom setups with $^{40}$K and $^{6}$Li atoms. We find that the many-body component of the two contact parameters exhibits a pronounced peak slightly above the resonance and consequently leads to a dip in the breathing mode frequency. In the resonance limit, we discuss the dependence of the equation of state and the breathing mode frequency on the dimensionless effective range of the interaction, $k_{F}R_{p}\ll1$, where $k_{F}$ is the Fermi wavevector and $R_{p}$ is the effective range. The breathing mode frequency $\omega_{B}$ deviates from the scale-invariant prediction of $\omega_{c}=2\omega_{0}$, where $\omega_{0}$ is the trapping frequency of the harmonic potential. This frequency shift is caused by the necessary existence of the effective range. In the small range limit, we predict that the mode frequency deviation at the leading order is given by, $\delta\omega_{B}\simeq-(\omega_{0}/4)\ln^{-1}(k_{F}R_{p})$.

One-dimensional two-component fermions with contact even-wave repulsion and SU(2)-symmetry-breaking near-resonant odd-wave attraction

We consider a one-dimensional (1D) two-component atomic Fermi gas with contact interaction in the even-wave channel (Yang-Gaudin model) and study the effect of an SU(2) symmetry breaking near-resonant odd-wave interaction within one of the components. Starting from the microscopic Hamiltonian, we derive an effective field theory for the spin degrees of freedom using the bosonization technique. It is shown that at a critical value of the odd-wave interaction there is a first-order phase transition from a phase with zero total spin and zero magnetization to the spin-segregated phase where the magnetization locally differs from zero.