The emergence of local phases in a trapped two-component Fermi gas in an optical lattice is studied using quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We treat temperatures that are comparable or lower than those presently achievable in experiments and large enough systems that both magnetic and paired phases can be detected by inspection of the behavior of suitable short-range correlations. We use the latter to suggest the interaction strength and temperature range at which experimental observation of incipient magnetism and d-wave pairing are more likely and evaluate the relation between entropy and temperature in two-dimensional confined fermionic systems.
The highly controllable ultracold atoms in a one-dimensional (1D) trap provide a new platform for the ultimate simulation of quantum magnetism. In this regard, the Neel-antiferromagnetism and the itinerant ferromagnetism are of central importance and great interest. Here we show that these magnetic orders can be achieved in the strongly interacting spin-1/2 trapped Fermi gases with additional p-wave interactions. In this strong coupling limit, the 1D trapped Fermi gas exhibit an effective Heisenberg spin XXZ chain in the anisotropic p-wave scattering channels. For a particular p-wave attractio…
We theoretically address magnetic ordering at zero and finite temperature in both homogeneous and trapped Bose-Bose mixtures in optical lattices. By using Bosonic Dynamical Mean-Field Theory, we obtain the phase diagram of the homogeneous two-component Bose-Hubbard model in a three-dimensional (3D) cubic lattice, which features competing magnetic order of XY-ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic type in addition to the Mott and superfluid states. We show that these magnetic phases persist also in the presence of a harmonic trap.
The quest for experimental platforms that allow for the exploration, and even control, of the interplay of low dimensionality and frustration is a fundamental challenge in several fields of quantum many-body physics, such as quantum magnetism. Here, we propose the use of cold crystals of trapped ions to study a variety of frustrated quantum spin ladders. By optimizing the trap geometry, we show how to tailor the low dimensionality of the models by changing the number of legs of the ladders. Combined with a method for selectively hiding of ions provided by laser addressing, it becomes possible …
We study the interplay between the Zeeman field and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in harmonically trapped Fermi gases loaded into a two-dimensional single-band tight-binding optical lattice. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory, we find that the Zeeman field combined with a Rashba SOC gives rise to $(i)$ Fulde-Ferrell-like superfluidity and $(ii)$ skyrmion-like polarization textures near the edges of the system. We also discussed the effects of interaction, temperature, SOC anisotropy and Zeeman field anisotropy on the superfluid ground state and polarization textures.
We present a theoretical interpretation of radio-frequency (RF) pairing gap experiments in trapped atomic Fermi gases, over the entire range of the BCS-BEC crossover, for temperatures above and below $T_c$. Our calculated RF excitation spectra, as well as the density profiles on which they are based, are in semi-quantitative agreement with experiment. We provide a detailed analysis of the physical origin of the two different peak features seen in RF spectra, one associated with nearly free atoms at the edge of the trap, and the other with (quasi-)bound fermion pairs.
Radio frequency spectra of a trapped unitary 6Li gas are reported and analyzed in terms of a theoretical approach that includes both final-state and trap effects. Final-state effects play a crucial role in evidencing two main peaks both above and below the critical temperature Tc as being associated with two distinct phases that reside in different trap regions. These are the pairing-gap and pseudo-gap phases below Tc, which evolve into the pseudo-gap and no-gap phases above Tc. In this way, a long standing puzzle about the interpretation of rf spectra for 6Li in a trap is solved.
We investigate strong-coupling properties of a trapped two-dimensional normal Fermi gas. Within the framework of a combined $T$-matrix theory with the local density approximation, we calculate the local density of states, as well as the photoemission spectrum, to see how two-dimensional pairing fluctuations affect these single-particle quantities. In the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region, we show that the local density of states exhibits a dip structure in the trap center, which is more remarkable than the three-dimensional case. This pseudogap p…
We use a BCS-type variational wavefunction to study attractively-interacting quasi one-dimensional (1D) fermionic atomic gases, motivated by cold-atom experiments that access the 1D regime using an anisotropic harmonic trapping potential (with trapping frequencies $ω_x = ω_y \gg ω_z$) that confines the gas to a cigar-shaped geometry. To handle the presence of the trap along the $z$-direction, we construct our variational wavefunction from the harmonic oscillator Hermite functions that are the eigenstates of the single-particle problem. Using an analytic determination of the effective interacti…
We study the interplay between the long- and short-range interaction of a one-dimensional optical lattice system of two-component dipolar fermions by using the density matrix renormalization group method. The atomic density profile, pairing-pairing correlation function, and the compressibility are calculated in the ground state, from which we identify the parameter region of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) pairing state, half-metal (HM) state, FFLO-HM state, and the normal polarized state, and thus the phase diagram in the coordinates of the long- and short-range interaction streng…
We theoretically investigate magnetic properties of a unitary Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. Including strong pairing fluctuations within the framework of an extended $T$-matrix approximation (ETMA), as well as effects of a trap potential within the local density approximation (LDA), we calculate the local spin susceptibility $χ(T,r)$ above the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. We show that the formation of preformed singlet Cooper pairs anomalously suppresses $χ(T,r)$ in the trap center near $T_{\rm c}$. We also point out that, in the unitarity limit, the spin-gap temperatur…
Ground state Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) theory is applied to imbalanced spin-1/2 one-dimensional Fermi systems that are spatially confined by either a harmonic or a hard-wall trapping potential. It has been hoped that such systems, which can be realized using ultracold atomic gases, would exhibit the long-sought-after Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superfluid phase. The HFB formalism generalizes the standard Bogoliubov quasi-particle transformation, by allowing for Cooper pairing to exist between all possible single-particle states, and accounts for the effects of the inhomogeneous…
BCS-BEC crossover in trapped one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard chains: entanglement and correlation signatures from DMRG and effective-pairing theory
Charles University（查理大学）；São Paulo State University (UNESP)（圣保罗州立大学）；The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)（阿卜杜斯·萨拉姆国际理论物理中心）；Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology（冲绳科学技术大学院大学）；Universidade Federal Fluminense（弗鲁米嫩塞联邦大学）
Motivated by recent realizations of spin-1 NaRb mixtures in the experiments, here we investigate heteronuclear magnetism in the Mott-insulating regime. Different from the identical mixtures where the boson (fermion) statistics only admits even (odd) parity states from angular momentum composition, for heteronuclear atoms in principle all angular momentum states are allowed, which can give rise to new magnetic phases. Various magnetic phases can be developed over these degenerate spaces, however, the concrete symmetry breaking phases depend not only on the degree of degeneracy, but also the com…
We investigate strong pairing fluctuations and effects of a harmonic trap in the superfluid phase of an ultracold Fermi gas. Including amplitude and phase fluctuations of the inhomogeneous superfluid order parameter $Δ(r)$ in a trap within a combined $T$-matrix theory with the local density approximation, we examine local properties of single-particle excitations and a thermodynamic quantity in the BCS-BEC crossover region. Below the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$, we show that inhomogeneous pairing fluctuations lead to a shell structure of the gas cloud in which the spati…
We study collective excitations of a trapped Fermi gas at finite temperature using the Bogoliubov-deGennes mean-field theory in conjunction with the generalized random phase approximation. The collective excitations are analyzed through the density response of a monopole excitation. We show the appearance of several modes at the normal fluid - superfluid phase transition temperature: Higgs mode-like pairing amplitude modulations, analogues of the second sound in the trapped gas, and an edge mode that is also the strongest mode in the response.
We propose a trapped ion scheme en route to realize spin Hamiltonians on a Kagome lattice which, at low energies, are described by emergent Z2 gauge fields, and support a topological quantum spin liquid ground state. The enabling element in our scheme is the hexagonal plaquette spin-spin interactions in a 2D ion crystal. For this, the phonon-mode spectrum of the crystal is engineered by standing-wave optical potentials or by using Rydberg excited ions, thus generating localized phonon-modes around a hexagon of ions selected out of the entire two-dimensional crystal. These tailored modes can me…
Superfluidity in the cold atomic two-species Fermi gas system in the unitary limit of infinite scattering length remains incompletely understood. In particular, a pseudogap phase has been proposed to exist above the superfluid critical temperature. Here we apply the auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo method to perform the first ab initio calculations of the temperature dependence of three quantities -- the energy-staggering pairing gap, the condensate fraction and the heat capacity -- in a trapped finite-size cold atom system. As the calculations of the energy-staggering pairing gap require t…
We present phase diagrams for population imbalanced, trapped Fermi superfluids near unitarity. In addition to providing quantitative values for the superfluid transition temperature, the pairing onset temperature and the transition line (separating the Sarma and phase separation regimes), we study experimental signatures of these transitions based on density profiles and density differences at the center. Predictions on the BCS side of resonance show unexpected behavior, which should be searched for experimentally.
Geometric frustration in quantum magnetism refers to that magnetic interactions on different bonds cannot be simultaneously minimized. The usual Cooper pairing systems favor the uniform distribution of the pairing phase among lattice sites without frustration. In contrast, we propose "frustrated Cooper pairing" in non-bipartite lattices which leads to frustrated supersolid states with non-uniform distributions of the Cooper pair phase and density. This exotic pairing state naturally occurs in the $p$-orbital band in optical lattices with ultra-cold spinless fermions. In the triangular lattice,…
We have studied the exotic superfluid phases of degenerated Fermi gases with spin-orbit coupling in a mixed dimensional system, where the motion of atoms are free in the x-direction and the tunneling between nearest tubes in the y-direction is permitted. Using the mean-field method, we obtain the phase diagrams of the system during the dimensional crossover between quasi one dimension to quasi two dimension. We find the existence of the topological state and Majorana edge mode in the weak tunneling case, and a rich phase diagram including two kinds of nodal superfluid phase and gapped superflu…
The few-fermion atomic gas is an ideal setting to explore inhomogeneous superfluid pairing analogous to the Larkin-Ovchinnikov state. Two up and one down-spin atom is the minimal configuration that displays an inhomogeneous pairing density whereas imbalanced systems containing more fermions present a more complex pairing topology. With more than eight atoms trapped the system approaches the macroscopic superfluid limit. An oblate trap with a central barrier offers a direct experimental probe of pairing inhomogeneity.
We investigate pseudogap phenomena in the unitarity limit of a trapped superfluid Fermi gas. Including effect of strong pairing fluctuations within a $T$-matrix approximation, as well as effects of a harmonic trap within the local density approximation (LDA), we calculate the local superfluid density of states below the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. We show that the spatial region where single-particle excitations are dominated by the pseudogap may still exist even below $T_{\rm c}$, due to inhomogeneous pairing fluctuations caused by the trap potential. From the tempera…
We consider the problem of spin-triplet p-wave superfluid pairing with total spin projection $m_s=0$ in atomic Fermi gas across the Feshbach resonance. We allow for imbalanced populations and take into account the effects due to presence of a parabolic trapping potential. Within the mean-field approximation for the one- and two-channel pairing models we show that depending on the distance from the center of a trap at least two superfluid states will have the lowest energy. Superfluid shells which emerge in a trap may have two out of three angular components of the p-wave superfluid order param…
We compute the fraction of closed-channel molecules in trapped atomic Fermi gases, over the entire range of accessible fields and temperatures. We use a two-channel model of BCS--Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover theory at general temperature $T$, and show that this fraction provides a measure of the $T$ dependent pairing gap. Our calculations, containing no free parameters, are in good quantitative agreement with recent low $T$ measurements in $^6$Li. We present readily testable predictions for the dependencies of the closed-channel fraction on temperature and Fermi momentum.
Quantum many body phases, in competition or coexistence has always been a fascinating area of research in condensed matter physics. One of the most widely investigated scenario of phase competition is that between superconductivity and magnetism, which in spite of several decades of research continues to bring up new surprises till date. While superconductivity and magnetism are naively considered to be antagonists, there are several circumstances where these many body phases can be found to be cooperating, coexisting and even promoting each other. The results of such cooperative behavior are …
Pairing in a population imbalanced Fermi system in a two-dimensional optical lattice is studied using Determinant Quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) simulations and mean-field calculations. The approximation-free numerical results show a wide range of stability of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovshinnikov (FFLO) phase. Contrary to claims of fragility with increased dimensionality we find that this phase is stable across wide range of values for the polarization, temperature and interaction strength. Both homogeneous and harmonically trapped systems display pairing with finite center of mass momentum, with …
Quantum phase transitions are usually studied in terms of Hermitian Hamiltonians. However, cold-atom experiments are intrinsically non-Hermitian due to spontaneous decay. Here, we show that non-Hermitian systems exhibit quantum phase transitions that are beyond the paradigm of Hermitian physics. We consider the non-Hermitian XY model, which can be implemented using three-level atoms with spontaneous decay. We exactly solve the model in one dimension and show that there is a quantum phase transition from short-range order to quasi-long-range order despite the absence of a continuous symmetry in…
We describe the emergence of superfluid phases of ultracold dipolar fermions in optical lattices for two-dimensional systems. Considering the many-body screening of dipolar interactions at intermediate and larger filling factors, we show that several superfluid phases with distinct pairing symmetries naturally arise in the singlet channel: local s-wave $(sl)$, extended s-wave $(se)$, d-wave $(d)$ or time-reversal-symmetry breaking $(sl + se \pm id)$-wave. We obtain the temperature versus filling factor phase diagram and show that d-wave pairing is favored near half-filling, that $(sl + se)$-wa…
We study a three-component superfluid Fermi gas in a spherically symmetric harmonic trap using the Bogoliubov-deGennes method. We predict a coexistence phase in which two pairing field order parameters are simultaneously nonzero, in stark contrast to studies performed for trapped gases using local density approximation. We also discuss the role of atom number conservation in the context of a homogeneous system.
We consider strongly interacting systems of effective spins, subject to dissipative spin-flip processes associated with optical pumping. We predict the existence of novel magnetic phases in the steady-state of this system, which emerge due to the competition between coherent and dissipative processes. Specifically, for strongly anisotropic spin-spin interactions, we find ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, spin-density-wave, and staggered-XY steady states, which are separated by nonequilibrium phase transitions meeting at a Lifshitz point. These transitions are accompanied by quantum correlation…
Starting with the two-band description of an orbital Feshbach resonance, we study superfluid properties of a trapped $^{173}$Yb Fermi gas under the assumptions of a local-density approximation for the trapping potential and a mean-field approximation for the intra-band Cooper pairings. In particular, we investigate the competition and interplay between the pair-breaking effect that is caused by the inter-band detuning energy, and the pair-breaking and thermal-broadening effects that are simultaneously caused by the temperature. We predict several experimental signatures that are directly cause…
We theoretically investigate magnetic properties of a trapped ultracold Fermi gas. Including pairing fluctuations within the framework of an extended $T$-matrix approximation (ETMA), as well as effects of a harmonic trap in the local density approximation (LDA), we calculate the local spin susceptibility $χ_{\rm t}(r,T)$ in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. We show that pairing fluctuations cause non-monotonic temperature dependence of $χ_{\rm t}(r,T)$. Although this behavior looks similar to the spin-gap phenomenon associated with pairing f…
Motivated by recent experiments, we address, in a fully self consistent fashion, the behavior and evolution of radio frequency (RF) spectra as temperature and polarization are varied in population imbalanced Fermi gases. We discuss a series of scenarios for the experimentally observed zero temperature pseudogap phase and show how present and future RF experiments may help in its elucidation. We conclude that the MIT experiments at the lowest $T$ may well reflect ground state properties, but take issue with their claim that the pairing gap survives up to temperatures of the order of the degener…
Flux Magnetism in a Strongly Interacting Dipolar Lattice Supersolid under Tunable Gauge Fields
Technische Universität Berlin（柏林工业大学）；Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto Nazionale di Ottica（意大利国家研究委员会光学研究所）；European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS), Università di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学非线性光谱欧洲实验室）；University of Florence（佛罗伦萨大学）；ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology（巴塞罗那科技研究所光子科学研究所）；ICREA（加泰罗尼亚高级研究院）；Politecnico di Torino（都灵理工大学）
We study magnetic phases of two-component mixtures of ultracold fermions with repulsive interactions in optical lattices in the presence of hopping imbalance. Our analysis is based on dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) and its real-space generalization at finite temperature. We study the temperature dependence of the transition into the ordered state as a function of the interaction strength and the imbalance parameter in two and three spatial dimensions. We show that below the critical temperature for Néel order mass-imbalanced mixtures also exhibit a charge-density wave, which provides a dir…
Understanding novel pairings in attractive degenerate Fermi gases is crucial for exploring rich superfluid physics. In this report, we reveal unconventional pairings induced by spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in a one-dimensional optical lattice, using a state-of-the-art density-matrix renormalization group method. When both bands are partially occupied, we find a strong competition between the interband Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) and intraband Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) pairings. In particular, for the weak and moderate SOC strengths, these two pairings can coexist, giving rise to…
How ferromagnetic phases emerge in itinerant systems is an outstanding problem in quantum magnetism. Here we consider a repulsive two-component Fermi gas confined in a two dimensional isotropic harmonic potential and subject to a large Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling, whose single-particle dispersion can be tailored by adjusting the SO coupling strength. We show that the interplay among SO coupling, correlation effects and mean-field repulsion leads to a competition between ferromagnetic and non-magnetic phases. At intermediate interaction strengths, ferromagnetic phase emerges which can be we…
We study the stability region of the topological superfluid phase in a trapped two-dimensional polarized Fermi gas with spin-orbit coupling and across a BCS-BEC crossover. Due to the competition between polarization, pairing interaction and spin-orbit coupling, the Fermi gas typically phase separates in the trap. Employing a mean field approach that guarantees the ground state solution, we systematically study the structure of the phase separation and investigate in detail the optimal parameter region for the preparation of the topologically non-trivial superfluid phase. We then calculate the …
Non-equilibrium stimulation of superfluidity in trapped Fermi gases is discussed by analogy to the work of Eliashberg [G. M. Eliashberg, in "Nonequilibrium Superconductivity," edited by D. N. Langenberg and A. I. Larkin (North-Holland, New York, 1986)] on the microwave enhancement of superconductivity. Optical excitation of the fermions balanced by heat loss due to thermal contact with a boson bath and/or evaporative cooling enables stationary non-equilibrium states to exist. Such a state manifests as a shift of the quasiparticle spectrum to higher energies and this effect effectively raises t…
Pairing of fermions is ubiquitous in nature and it is responsible for a large variety of fascinating phenomena like superconductivity, superfluidity of $^3$He, the anomalous rotation of neutron stars, and the BEC-BCS crossover in strongly interacting Fermi gases. When confined to two dimensions, interacting many-body systems bear even more subtle effects, many of which lack understanding at a fundamental level. Most striking is the, yet unexplained, effect of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates, which is intimately related to the two-dimensional geometry of the crystal structure. In…
Strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum systems often behave in a manner that is distinctly different from their higher-dimensional counterparts. When a particle attempts to move in a one-dimensional environment it will unavoidably have to interact and 'push' other particles in order to execute a pattern of motion, irrespective of whether the particles are fermions or bosons. A present frontier in both theory and experiment are mixed systems of different species and/or particles with multiple internal degrees of freedom. Here we consider trapped two-component bosons with short-range inter…
