Superfluid Transition Temperature Research Articles

Pair correlations in the attractive Hubbard model

The mechanism of fermionic pairing is the key to understanding various phenomena such as high-temperature superconductivity and the pseudogap phase in cuprate materials. We study the pair correlations in the attractive Hubbard model using ultracold fermions in a two-dimensional optical lattice. By combining the fluctuation-dissipation theorem and the compressibility equation of state, we extract the interacting pair correlation functions and deduce a characteristic length scale of pairs as a function of interaction and density filling. At sufficiently low filling and weak on-site interaction, we observe that the pair correlations extend over a few lattice sites even at temperatures above the superfluid transition temperature.

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.

Mesoscopic spin transport between strongly interacting Fermi gases

We investigate a mesoscopic spin current for strongly interacting Fermi gases through a quantum point contact. Under the situation where spin polarizations in left and right reservoirs are same in magnitude but opposite in sign, we calculate the contribution of quasiparticles to the current by means of the linear response theory and many-body $T$-matrix approximation. For a small spin-bias regime, the current in the vicinity of the superfluid transition temperature is strongly suppressed due to the formation of pseudogaps. For a large spin-bias regime where the gases become highly polarized, on the other hand, the current is affected by the enhancement of a minority density of states due to Fermi polarons. We also discuss the broadening of a quasiparticle peak associated with an attractive polaron at a large momentum, which is relevant to the enhancement.

Neutron pairing with medium polarization beyond the Landau approximation

We revisit the long-standing problem of the superfluid transition temperature $T_c$ in dilute neutron matter. It is well known that $T_c$ is strongly affected by medium polarization effects (screening) which modify the pairing interaction in the medium. We study these effects within the random-phase approximation (RPA). It turns out that the widely used Landau approximation is sufficient only at densities below about 0.002 fm$^{-3}$. At higher densities, the full RPA leads to stronger screening than the Landau approximation.

Spin-dipole mode in a trapped Fermi gas near unitarity

We theoretically investigate the spin-dipole oscillation of a strongly interacting Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. By using a combined diagrammatic strong-coupling theory with a local density approximation and a sum rule approach, we clarify the temperature dependence of the spin-dipole frequency near the unitarity, which is deeply related to the spin susceptibility, as well as pairing correlations. While the spin-dipole frequency exactly coincides with the trap frequency in a non-interacting Fermi gas, it is shown to remarkably be enhanced in the superfluid state, because of the suppression of the spin degree of freedom due to the spin-singlet Cooper-pair formation. In strongly interacting Fermi gases, this enhancement occurs even above the superfluid phase transition temperature, due to the strong pairing correlations.

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the superfluid density in quasi-one-dimensional systems of hard-core bosons: Effect of the suppression of phase slippage

We study the superfluid density of hard-core bosons on quasi-one-dimensional lattices using the quantum Monte Carlo method. Because of phase slippage, the superfluid density drops quickly to zero at finite temperatures with increasing the system length $\ell$ and the superfluid transition temperature is zero in one spatial dimension and also in quasi-one dimension in the limit of $\ell\rightarrow\infty$. We calculate the superfluid density of a model where no phase slippage is allowed and show that the superfluid density remains finite at finite temperatures even in the one-dimensional limit. We also discuss how finite superfluid density can be observed in a quasi-one-dimensional system using a torsional oscillator.

Shear Viscosity and Strong-Coupling Corrections in the BCS–BEC Crossover Regime of an Ultracold Fermi Gas

We theoretically investigate the shear viscosity $\eta$ in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas with a Feshbach resonance. Within the framework of the strong-coupling self-consistent $T$-matrix approximation, we examine how a strong pairing interaction associated with a Feshbach resonance affects this transport coefficient, in the normal state above the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. We show that, while $\eta$ diverges in both the weak-coupling BCS and strong-coupling BEC limits, it becomes small in the unitary regime. The minimum of $\eta$ is obtained, not at the unitarity, but slightly in the strong-coupling BEC side. This deviation is consistent with the recent experiment on a $^6$Li Fermi gas. In the weak-coupling BCS regime, we also find that $\eta$ exhibits anomalous temperature dependence near $T_{\rm c}$, which is deeply related to the pseudogap phenomenon originating form strong pairing fluctuations.

Probing superfluid He4 with high-frequency nanomechanical resonators down to millikelvin temperatures

Superfluids, such as superfluid $^3\mathrm{He}$ and $^4\mathrm{He}$, exhibit a broad range of quantum phenomena and excitations which are unique to these systems. Nanoscale mechanical resonators are sensitive and versatile force detectors with the ability to operate over many orders of magnitude in damping. Using nanomechanical-doubly clamped beams of extremely high quality factors ($Q>10^6$), we probe superfluid $^4\mathrm{He}$ from the superfluid transition temperature down to $\mathrm{mK}$ temperatures at frequencies up to $11.6 \, \mathrm{MHz}$. Our studies show that nanobeam damping is dominated by hydrodynamic viscosity of the normal component of $^4\mathrm{He}$ above $1\,\mathrm{K}$. In the temperature range $0.3-0.8\,\mathrm{K}$, the ballistic quasiparticles (phonons and rotons) determine the beams' behavior. At lower temperatures, damping saturates and is determined either by magnetomotive losses or acoustic emission into helium. It is remarkable that all these distinct regimes can be extracted with just a single device, despite damping changing over six orders of magnitude.

Strong-Coupling Effects on Specific Heat in the BCS–BEC Crossover

We theoretically investigate strong-coupling effects on specific heat at constant volume $C_{\rm V}$ in a superfluid Fermi gas with a tunable interaction associated with Feshbach resonance. Including fluctuations of the superfluid order parameter within the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink, we calculate the temperature dependence of $C_{\rm V}$ at the unitarity limit in the superfluid phase. We show that, in the low temperature region, $T^3$-behavior is shown in the temperature dependence of $C_{\rm V}$. This result indicates that the low-lying excitations are dominated by the gapless Goldstone mode, associated with the phase fluctuations of the superfluid order parameter. Since the Goldstone mode is one of the most fundamental phenomena in the Fermionic superfluidity, our results are useful for further understanding how the pairing fluctuations affects physical properties in the BCS-BEC crossover physics below the superfluid transition temperature.

The dynamics of neutron star crusts: Lagrangian perturbation theory for a relativistic superfluid-elastic system

The inner crust of a mature neutron star is composed of an elastic lattice of neutron-rich nuclei penetrated by free neutrons. These neutrons can flow relative to the crust once the star cools below the superfluid transition temperature. In order to model the dynamics of this system, which is relevant for a range of problems from pulsar glitches to magnetar seismology and continuous gravitational-wave emission from rotating deformed neutron stars, we need to understand general relativistic Lagrangian perturbation theory for elastic matter coupled to a superfluid component. This paper develops the relevant formalism to the level required for astrophysical applications.

Enhanced Fermion Pairing and Superfluidity by an Imaginary Magnetic Field

SummaryWe show that an imaginary magnetic field (IMF), which can be generated in non-Hermitian systems with spin-dependent dissipations, can greatly enhance the s-wave pairing and superfluidity of spin-1/2 fermions, in distinct contrast to the effect of a real magnetic field. The enhancement can be attributed to the increased coupling constant in low-energy space and the reduced spin gap in forming singlet pairs. We have demonstrated this effect in a number of different fermion systems with and without spin-orbit coupling, using both the two-body exact solution and many-body mean-field theory. Our results suggest an alternative route toward strong fermion superfluid with high superfluid transition temperature.

Superfluid stiffness for the attractive Hubbard model on a honeycomb optical lattice

In addition to the conventional contribution that is directly controlled by the single-particle energy spectrum, the superfluid phase stiffness of a two-component Fermi gas has a geometric contribution that is governed by the quantum metric of the honeycomb's band structure. Here, we take both contributions into account, and construct phase diagrams for the critical superfluid transition temperature as a function of the chemical potential, particle filling, onsite interaction and next-nearest-neighbor hopping. Our theoretical approach is based on a self-consistent solution of the BCS mean-field theory for the stationary Cooper pairs and the universal BKT relation for the phase fluctuations.

Strong-coupling and finite-temperature effects on p -wave contacts

We investigate theoretically strong-coupling and finite-temperature effects on the $p$-wave contacts, as well as the asymptotic behavior of the momentum distribution in the large-momentum region in a one-component Fermi gas with a tunable $p$-wave interaction. Including $p$-wave pairing fluctuations within a strong-coupling theory, we calculate the $p$-wave contacts above the superfluid transition temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ from the adiabatic energy relations. We show that, while the $p$-wave contact related to the scattering volume monotonically increases with increasing interaction strength, the one related to the effective range depends nonmonotonically on interaction strength and its sign changes in the intermediate-coupling regime. The nonmonotonic interaction dependence of these quantities is shown to originate from the competition between the increase of the cutoff momentum and the decrease of the coupling constant of the $p$-wave interaction with increasing effective range. We also analyze the asymptotic form of the momentum distribution in the large-momentum region. In contrast to the conventional $s$-wave case, we show that the asymptotic behavior cannot be completely described by only the $p$-wave contacts, and the extra terms, which are not related to the thermodynamic properties, appear. Furthermore, in the high-temperature region, we find that the extra terms dominate the subleading term of the large-momentum distribution. We also directly compare our results with the recent experimental measurement by including the effects of a harmonic trap potential within the local density approximation. We show that, while our model qualitatively explains the dependence on the interaction strength of the $p$-wave contacts, there are some quantitative disagreements between our theory and recent experiment; for example, the peak position of the $p$-wave contact related to the effective range. Since the $p$-wave contacts connect the microscopic properties to the thermodynamic properties of the system, our results would be helpful for further understanding many-body properties of this anisotropic interacting Fermi gas in the normal phase.

Quantum-metric contribution to the pair mass in spin-orbit-coupled Fermi superfluids

As a measure of the quantum distance between Bloch states in the Hilbert space, the quantum metric was introduced to solid-state physics through the real part of the so-called geometric Fubini-Study tensor, the imaginary part of which corresponds to the Berry curvature measuring the emergent gauge field in momentum space. Here, we first derive the Ginzburg-Landau theory near the critical superfluid transition temperature, and then identify and analyze the geometric effects on the effective mass tensor of the Cooper pairs. By showing that the quantum metric contribution accounts for a sizeable fraction of the pair mass in a surprisingly large parameter regime throughout the BCS-BEC crossover, we not only reveal the physical origin of its governing role in the superfluid density tensor but also hint at its plausible roles in many other observables as well.

Specific heat and effects of strong pairing fluctuations in a superfluid Fermi atom gas in the BCS-BEC crossover region

We theoretically investigate the specific heat at constant volume CV in the BCS(Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC(Bose-Einstein-condensation)-crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas, below the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc. Within the strong-coupling framework developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink, we show that the temperature dependence of CV drastically changes as one passes through the crossover region, and is sensitive to strong fluctuations in the Cooper channel near the unitarity limit. We also compare our results to a recent experiment on a 6Li unitary Fermi gas. Since fluctuation effects are a crucial key in the BCS-BEC-crossover phenomenon, our results would be helpful in considering how the fermionic BCS superfluid changes into BEC with increasing the interaction strength, from the viewpoint of specific heat.

Closed-channel contribution in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas with an orbital Feshbach resonance

We theoretically investigate strong-coupling properties of an ultracold Fermi gas with an orbital Feshbach resonance (OFR). Including tunable pairing interaction associated with an OFR within the framework of the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink (NSR), we examine the occupation of the closed channel. We show that, although the importance of the closed channel is characteristic of the system with an OFR, the occupation number of the closed channel is found to actually be very small at the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc, in the whole BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region, when we use the scattering parameters for an ultracold 173Yb Fermi gas. The occupation of the closed channel increases with increasing the temperature above Tc, which is more remarkable for a stronger pairing interaction. We also present a prescription to remove effects of an experimentally inaccessible deep bound state from the NSR formalism, which we meet when we theoretically deal with a 173Yb Fermi gas with an OFR.

Decoupling of Solid 4He Layers under the Superfluid Overlayer

It has been reported that in a large oscillation amplitude, the mass decoupling of multilayer 4He films adsorbed on graphite results from the depinning of the second solid atomic layer. This decoupling suddenly vanishes below a certain low temperature TD due to the cancellation of mass decoupling by the superfluid counterflow of the the overylayer. We studied the relaxation of the depinned state at various temperatures, after reduction of oscillation amplitude below TD. It was found that above the superfluid transition temperature the mass decoupling revives with a relaxation time of several 100 s. It strongly supports that the depinned state of the second solid atomic layer remains underneath the superfluid overlayer.

Superfluid Fermi atomic gas as a quantum simulator for the study of the neutron-star equation of state in the low-density region

We theoretically propose an idea to use an ultracold Fermi gas as a quantum simulator for the study of the neutron-star equation of state (EoS) in the low-density region. Our idea is different from the standard quantum simulator that heads for {\it perfect} replication of another system, such as a Hubbard model discussed in high-$T_{\rm c}$ cuprates. Instead, we use the {\it similarity} between two systems, and theoretically make up for the difference between them. That is, (1) we first show that the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozi\`eres-Schmitt Rink (NSR) can quantitatively explain the recent EoS experiment on a $^6$Li superfluid Fermi gas in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-unitary limit far below the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. This region is considered to be very similar to the low density region (crust regime) of a neutron star (where a nearly unitary $s$-wave neutron superfluid is expected). (2) We then theoretically compensate the difference that, while the effective range $r_{\rm eff}$ is negligibly small in a superfluid $^6$Li Fermi gas, it cannot be ignored ($r_{\rm eff}=2.7$ fm) in a neutron star, by extending the NSR theory to include effects of $r_{\rm eff}$. The calculated EoS when $r_{\rm eff}=2.7$ fm is shown to agree well with the previous neutron-star EoS in the low density region predicted in nuclear physics. Our idea indicates that an ultracold atomic gas may more flexibly be used as a quantum simulator for the study of other complicated quantum many-body systems, when we use, not only the experimental high tunability, but also the recent theoretical development in this field. Since it is difficult to directly observe a neutron-star interior, our idea would provide a useful approach to the exploration for this mysterious astronomical object.

The Momentum Distribution of Liquid $$^4\hbox {He}$$

We report high-resolution neutron Compton scattering measurements of liquid $^4$He under saturated vapor pressure. There is excellent agreement between the observed scattering and ab initio predictions of its lineshape. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations predict that the Bose condensate fraction is zero in the normal fluid, builds up rapidly just below the superfluid transition temperature, and reaches a value of approximately $7.5\%$ below 1 K. We also used model fit functions to obtain from the scattering data empirical estimates for the average atomic kinetic energy and Bose condensate fraction. These quantities are also in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations. The convergence between the scattering data and Quantum Monte Carlo calculations is strong evidence for a Bose broken symmetry in superfluid $^4$He.

Viscosity bound for anisotropic superfluids with dark matter sector

The shear viscosity to the entropy density ratio $\eta/s$ of the anisotropic superfluid has been calculated by means of the gauge/gravity duality in the presence of the {\it dark matter} sector. The {\it dark matter} has been described by the Yang-Mills field analogous to the one describing visible matter sector and it is assumed to interact with the visible field with coupling constant $\alpha$. Close to the superfluid transition temperature ($T_c$) the analytical solution has been given up to the leading order in a symmetry breaking parameter and the ratio of the gravitational constant and Yang-Mils coupling. The tensor element of ratio $\eta/s$ remains unaffected by the {\it dark matter} for the viscosity tensor in the plane perpendicular to the symmetry breaking direction (here $yz$). The temperature dependence and the linear correction in $(1-\alpha)$ in the plane containing this direction (here $xy$) was also revealed. The correction linearly vanishes for temperature tending to the critical one $T\rightarrow T_c$.