We address recent spin transport experiments in ultracold unitary Fermi gases. We provide a theoretical understanding for how the measured temperature dependence of the spin diffusivity at low $T$ can disagree with the expected behavior of a Fermi liquid (FL) while the spin susceptiblity(following the experimental protocols) is consistent with a Fermi liquid picture. We show that the experimental protocols for extracting $χ_s$ are based on a FL presumption; relaxing this leads to consistency within (but not proof of) a pseudogap-based approach. Our tranport calculations yield insight into the measured strong suppression of the spin diffusion constant at lower $T$.
A central challenge in modern condensed matter physics is developing the tools for understanding nontrivial yet unordered states of matter. One important idea to emerge in this context is that of a "pseudogap": the fact that under appropriate circumstances the normal state displays a suppression of the single particle spectral density near the Fermi level, reminiscent of the gaps seen in ordered states of matter. While these concepts arose in a solid state context, it is now being explored in cold gases. This article reviews the current experimental and theoretical understanding of the normal …
We study pseudogap behaviors of ultracold Fermi gases in the BCS-BEC crossover region. We calculate the density of states (DOS), as well as the single-particle spectral weight, above the superfluid transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ including pairing fluctuations within a $T$-matrix approximation. We find that DOS exhibits a pseudogap structure in the BCS-BEC crossover region, which is most remarkable near the unitarity limit. We determine the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ at which the pseudogap structure in DOS disappears. We also introduce another temperature $T^{**}$ at which the BCS-like dou…
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…
The pairing and superfluid phenomena in a two-component ultracold atomic Fermi gas is an analogue of Cooper pairing and superconductivity in an electron system, in particular, the high $T_c$ superconductors. Owing to the various tunable parameters that have been made accessible experimentally in recent years, atomic Fermi gases can be explored as a prototype or quantum simulator of superconductors. It is hoped that, utilizing such an analogy, the study of atomic Fermi gases may shed light to the mysteries of high $T_c$ superconductivity. One obstacle to the ultimate understanding of high $T_c$…
Pseudogap is a ubiquitous phenomenon in strongly correlated systems such as high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductors, ultracold atoms and nuclear physics. While pairing fluctuations inducing the pseudogap are known to be enhanced in low-dimensional systems, such effects have not been explored well in one of the most fundamental 1D models, that is, Gaudin-Yang model. In this work, we show that the pseudogap effect can be visible in the single-particle excitation in this system using a diagrammatic approach. Fermionic single-particle spectra exhibit a unique crossover from the double-particle dispersion…
The physics of the pseudogap state is intimately linked with the pairing mechanism that gives rise to superfluidity in quantum gases and to superconductivity in high-Tc cuprates, and therefore, both in quantum gases and superconductors, the pseudogap state and preformed pairs have been under intensive experimental scrutiny. Here, we develop a path integral treatment that provides a divergence-free description of the paired state in two-dimensional Fermi gases. Within this formalism, we derive the pseudogap temperature and the pair fluctuation spectral function, and compare these results with t…
We develop a theoretical method going beyond the contact-interaction approximation frequently used in mean-field theories of many-fermion systems, based on the low-energy T-matrix of the pair potential to rigorously define the effective radius of the interaction. One of the main consequences of our approach is the possibility to investigate finite-density effects, which are outside the range of validity of approximations based on delta-like potentials. We apply our method to the calculation of density dependent properties of an ultracold gas of 6Li atoms at unitarity, whose two-body interactio…
The induced intraspecies interactions among the majority species, mediated by the minority species, is computed for a population-imbalanced two-component Fermi gas. Although the Feshbach-resonance mediated interspecies interaction is dominant for equal populations, leading to singlet s-wave pairing, we find that in the strongly imbalanced regime the induced intraspecies interaction leads to p-wave pairing and superfluidity of the majority species. Thus, we predict that the observed spin-polaron Fermi liquid state in this regime is unstable to p-wave superfluidity, in accordance with the result…
We address the important question of how to characterize the normal state of fermionic superfluids under the influence of a strong effective magnetic field, implemented through rapid rotation or novel artificial field techniques. We consider the effects of crossing from BCS to BEC and the role of non-condensed pairs, or pseudogap effects. Using a simple extension of Gor'kov theory we demonstrate how these pairs organize above the transition $T_c$ into precursors of a vortex configuration, which are associated with distortions of the ideal Abrikosov lattice. This non-uniform normal state appear…
We study the properties of strongly interacting Bose gases at the density and temperature regime when the three-body recombination rate is substantially reduced. In this regime, one can have a Bose gas with all particles in scattering states (i.e. the "upper branch") with little loss even at unitarity over the duration of the experiment. We show that because of bosonic enhancement, pair formation is shifted to the atomic side of the original resonance (where scattering length $a_s<0$), opposite to the fermionic case. In a trap, a repulsive Bose gas remains mechanically stable when brought acro…
Equal-mass two-component Fermi gases under spherically symmetric external harmonic confinement with large s-wave scattering length are considered. Using the stochastic variational approach, we determine the lowest 286 and 164 relative eigenenergies of the (2,2) and (3,1) systems at unitarity as a function of the range $r_0$ of the underlying two-body potential and extrapolate to the $r_0 \rightarrow 0$ limit. Our calculations include all states with vanishing and finite angular momentum $L$ (and natural and unnatural parity $Π$) with relative energy up to $10.5 \hbar Ω$, where $Ω$ denotes the …
This paper presents a comparison of two finite-temperature BCS-Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover theories above the transition temperature: Nozieres Schmitt-Rink (NSR) theory and finite $T$-extended BCS-Leggett theory. The comparison is cast in the form of numerical studies of the behavior of the fermionic spectral function both theoretically and as constrained by (primarily) radio frequency (RF) experiments. Both theories include pair fluctuations and exhibit pseudogap effects, although the nature of this pseudogap is very different. The pseudogap in finite $T$-extended BCS-Leggett t…
We investigate strong-coupling effects on normal state properties of an ultracold Fermi gas. Within the framework of $T$-matrix approximation in terms of pairing fluctuations, we calculate the single-particle density of states (DOS), as well as the spectral weight, over the entire BCS-BEC crossover region above the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. Starting from the weak-coupling BCS regime, we show that the so-called pseudogap develops in DOS above $T_{\rm c}$, which becomes remarkable in the crossover region. The pseudogap structure continuously changes into a fully gapped…
We show how Fermi liquid theory can be applied to ultra-cold Fermi gases, thereby expanding their "simulation" capabilities to a class of problems of interest to multiple physics sub-disciplines. We introduce procedures for measuring and calculating position dependent Landau parameters. This lays the ground work for addressing important controversial issues: (i) the suggestion that thermodynamically, the normal state of a unitary gas is indistinguishable from a Fermi liquid (ii) that a fermionic system with strong repulsive contact interactions is associated with either ferromagnetism or local…
We show, using an ab initio approach based on Quantum Monte Carlo technique, that the pseudogap regime emerges in ultracold Fermi gases close to the unitary point. We locate the onset of this regime at a value of the interaction strength corresponding to (k_{F}a)^{-1}\approx -0.05 (a - scattering length). We determine the evolution of the gap as a function of temperature and interaction strength in the Fermi gas around the unitary limit and show that our results exhibit a remarkable agreement with the recent wave-vector resolved radio frequency spectroscopy data. Our results indicate that a fi…
We present a theory for the low-temperature properties of a resonantly interacting Fermi mixture in a trap, that goes beyond the local-density approximation. The theory corresponds essentially to a Landau-Ginzburg-like approach that includes self-energy effects to account for the strong interactions at unitarity. We show diagrammatically how these self-energy effects arise from fluctuations in the superfluid order parameter. Gradient terms of the order parameter are included to account for inhomogeneities. This approach incorporates the state-of-the-art knowledge of the homogeneous mixture wit…
Recent experimental progresses allow for exploring some important physical quantities of ultracold Fermi gases, such as the compressibility, spin susceptibility, viscosity, optical conductivity and spin diffusivity. Theoretically, these quantities can be evaluated from suitable linear response theories. For BCS superfluid, it has been found that the gauge invariant linear response theories can be fully consistent with some stringent consistency constraints. When the theory is generalized to stronger-than-BCS regime, one may meet serious difficulties to satisfy the gauge invariance conditions. …
We study the BCS-Bose Einstein Condensation (BEC) crossover of a three dimensional spin polarized Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbital-coupling (SOC). At finite temperature, the effects of non-condensed pairs due to the thermal excitation are considered based on the $G_0G$ pair fluctuation theory. These fluctuations generate a pseudogap even persistent above $T_c$. Within this framework, the Sarma state or the spin polarized superfluid state and polarized pseudogap state are explored in detail. The resulting $T_c$ curves show that the enhancement of pairing due to the SOC roughly cancels out the…
We consider imbalanced Fermi gases with strong attractive interactions, for which Cooper-pair formation plays an important role. The two-component mixtures consist either of identical fermionic atoms in two different hyperfine states, or of two different atomic species both occupying only a single hyperfine state. In both cases, the number of atoms for each component is allowed to be different, which leads to a spin imbalance, or spin polarization. Two different atomic species also lead to a mass imbalance. Imbalanced Fermi gases are relevant to condensed-matter physics, nuclear physics and as…
In this paper we present a Monte Carlo calculation of the critical temperature and other thermodynamic quantities for the unitary Fermi gas with a population imbalance (unequal number of fermions in the two spin components). We describe an improved worm type algorithm that is less prone to autocorrelations than the previously available methods and show how this algorithm can be applied to simulate the unitary Fermi gas in presence of a small imbalance. Our data indicates that the critical temperature remains almost constant for small imbalances $h=Δμ/ε_F\lessapprox0.2$. We obtain the continuum…
We present an experimental study of the high-energy excitation spectra of unitary Fermi gases. Using focussed beam Bragg spectroscopy, we locally probe atoms in the central region of a harmonically trapped cloud where the density is nearly uniform, enabling measurements of the dynamic structure factor for a range of temperatures both below and above the superfluid transition. Applying sum-rules to the measured Bragg spectra, we resolve the characteristic behaviour of the universal contact parameter, ${\cal C}$, across the superfluid transition. We also employ a recent theoretical result for th…
We present a pairing fluctuation theory which self-consistently incorporates finite momentum pair excitations in the context of BCS--Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover, and we apply this theory to high $T_c$ superconductors and ultracold Fermi gases. There are strong similarities between Fermi gases in the unitary regime and high Tc superconductors. Here we address key issues of common interest, especially the pseudogap. In the Fermi gases we summarize recent experiments including various phase diagrams (with and without population imbalance), as well as evidence for a pseudogap in the…
We discuss the equilibrium properties of dilute Bose gases using a non-perturbative formalism based on auxiliary fields related to the normal and anomalous densities. We show analytically that for a dilute Bose gas of weakly-interacting particles at zero temperature, the leading-order auxiliary field (LOAF) approximation leads to well-known analytical results. Close to the critical point the LOAF predictions are the same as those obtained using an effective field theory in the large-N approximation. We also report analytical approximations for the LOAF results in the unitarity limit, which com…
We derive expressions for spin and density correlation functions in the (greatly enhanced) pseudogap phase of spin-orbit coupled Fermi superfluids. Density-density correlation functions are found to be relatively insensitive to the presence of these Rashba effects. To arrive at spin-spin correlation functions we derive new $f$-sum rules, valid even in the absence of a spin conservation law. Our spin-spin correlation functions are shown to be fully consistent with these $f$-sum rules. Importantly, they provide a clear signature of the Rashba band-structure and separately help to establish the p…
We study a degenerate Bose gas quenched to unitarity by solving a many-body model including three-body losses and correlations up to second order. As the gas evolves in this strongly-interacting regime, the buildup of correlations leads to the formation of extended pairs bound purely by many-body effects, analogous to the phenomenon of Cooper pairing in the BCS regime of the Fermi gas. Through fast sweeps away from unitarity, we detail how the correlation growth and formation of bound pairs emerge in the fraction of unbound atoms remaining post sweep, finding quantitative agreement with experi…
This article provides a brief review of how various spectroscopies have been used to investitage many-body quantum phenomena in the context of ultracold Fermi gases. In particular, work done with RF spectroscopy, Bragg spectroscopy and lattice modulation spectroscopy is considered. The theoretical basis of these spectroscopies, namely linear response theory in the many-body quantum physics context is briefly presented. Experiments related to the BCS-BEC crossover, imbalanced Fermi gases, polarons, possible pseudogap and Fermi liquid behaviour and measuring the contact are discussed. Remaining …
Understanding strongly correlated phases of matter, from the quark-gluon plasma to neutron stars, and in particular the dynamics of such systems, $e.g.$ following a Hamiltonian quench, poses a fundamental challenge in modern physics. Ultracold atomic gases are excellent quantum simulators for these problems, thanks to tuneable interparticle interactions and experimentally resolvable intrinsic timescales. In particular, they give access to the unitary regime where the interactions are as strong as allowed by quantum mechanics. Following years of experiments on unitary Fermi gases, unitary Bose …
By adopting a $T$-matrix-based method within the $G_0G$ approximation for the pair susceptibility, we study the effects of the pairing fluctuation on the three-dimensional spin-orbit coupled Fermi gases at finite temperature. The critical temperatures of the superfluid/normal phase transition are determined for three different types of spin-orbit coupling (SOC): (1) the extreme oblate (EO) or Rashba SOC, (2) the extreme prolate (EP) or equal Rashba-Dresselhaus SOC, and (3) the spherical (S) SOC. For EO- and S-type SOC, the SOC dependence of the critical temperature signals a crossover from BCS…
We theoretically study the normal phase properties of strongly interacting two-component Fermi gases in two spatial dimensions. In the limit of weak attraction, we find that the gas can be described in terms of effective polarons. As the attraction between fermions increases, we find a crossover from a gas of non-interacting polarons to a pseudogap regime. We investigate how this crossover is manifested in the radio-frequency (rf) spectroscopy. Our findings qualitatively explain the differences in the recent rf spectroscopy measurements of two-dimensional Fermi gases [Sommer et al., Phys. Rev.…
We theoretically investigate the recent photoemission-type experiment on $^{40}$K Fermi gases done by JILA group. Including pairing fluctuations within a strong-coupling $T$-matrix theory, as well as effects of a harmonic trap within the local density approximation, we calculate photoemission spectra in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. We show that the energy resolution of the current photoemission experiment is enough to detect the pseudogap phenomenon. We also show how the pseudogap in single-particle excitations continuously changes into…
We study the propagation of dispersive waves in superfluid Fermi gases in the BEC-BCS crossover. Unlike in other superfluid systems, where dispersive waves have already been studied and observed, Fermi gases can exhibit a subsonic dispersion relation for which the dispersive wave pattern appears at the tail of the wave front. We show that this property can be used to distinguish between a subsonic and a supersonic dispersion relation at unitarity.
We develop an analytical approach for the description of an atomic Bose gas at unitarity. By focusing in first instance on the evaluation of the single-particle density matrix, we derive several universal properties of the unitary Bose gas, such as the chemical potential, the contact, the speed of sound, the condensate density and the effective interatomic interaction. The theory is also generalized to describe Bose gases with a finite scattering length and then reduces to the Bogoliubov theory in the weak-coupling limit.
Ultracold atomic Fermi gases present an opportunity to study strongly interacting Fermi systems in a controlled and uncomplicated setting. The ability to tune attractive interactions has led to the discovery of superfluidity in these systems with an extremely high transition temperature, near T/T_F = 0.2. This superfluidity is the electrically neutral analog of superconductivity; however, superfluidity in atomic Fermi gases occurs in the limit of strong interactions and defies a conventional BCS description. For these strong interactions, it is predicted that the onset of pairing and superflui…
We consider mass-imbalanced two-component Fermi gases for which the unequal-mass atoms interact via a zero-range model potential with a diverging s-wave scattering length $a_s$, i.e., with $1/a_s=0$. The high temperature thermodynamics of the harmonically trapped and homogeneous systems are examined using a virial expansion approach up to third order in the fugacity. We find that the universal part of the third-order virial coefficient associated with two light atoms and one heavy atom is negative, while that associated with two heavy and one light atom changes sign from negative to positive a…
Using density functional theory in a time dependent approach we determine the frequencies of the compressional modes of the normal phase of a Fermi gas at unitarity as a function of its polarization. Our energy functional accounts for the typical elastic deformations exhibited by Landau theory of Fermi liquids. The comparison with the available experiments is biased by important collisional effects affecting both the {\it in phase} and the {\it out of phase} oscillations even at the lowest temperatures. New experiments in the collisionless regime would provide a crucial test of the applicabili…
I present lattice Monte Carlo calculations for a universal four-component Fermi gas confined to a finite box and to a harmonic trap in one spatial dimension. I obtain the values xi_1d = 0.370(4) and xi_1d = 0.372(1), respectively, for the Bertsch parameter, a nonperturbative universal constant defined as the (square of the) energy of the untrapped (trapped) system measured in units of the free gas energy. The Bertsch parameter for the one-dimensional system is consistent to within ~1% uncertainties with the most recent numerical and experimental estimates of the analogous Bertsch parameter for…
Transport studies seem to be one of the strongest lines of support for a preformed pair approach to the pseudogap. In this paper we provide a fresh, physically transparent look at two important quantities: the diamagnetic susceptibility and conductivity. We use a three dimensional preformed pair framework which has had some success in the cold Fermi gases and in the process we reconcile recently observed inconsistencies. Specifically, while the preformed pairs in our theory give a large contribution to the diamagnetic susceptibility, the imaginary part of the conductivity is suppressed to zero…
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…
Ultracold atomic Fermi gases can be tuned to interact strongly, where they display spectroscopic signatures above the superfluid transition reminiscent of the pseudogap in cuprates. However, the extent of the analogy can be questioned, since 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 radiofrequency technique with ultracold $^6\textrm{Li}$ gases. For all significant interaction strength…
We theoretically investigate excitation properties in the pseudogap regime of a trapped Fermi gas. Using a combined $T$-matrix theory with the local density approximation, we calculate strong-coupling corrections to single-particle local density of states (LDOS), as well as the single-particle local spectral weight (LSW). Starting from the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$, we clarify how the pseudogap structures in these quantities disappear with increasing the temperature. As in the case of a uniform Fermi gas, LDOS and LSW give different pseudogap temperatures $T^*$ and $T…
We investigate single-particle properties of a one-component Fermi gas with a tunable p-wave interaction. Including pairing fluctuations associated with this anisotropic interaction within a $T$-matrix theory, we calculate the single-particle density of states, as well as the spectral weight, above the superfluid transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. Starting from the weak-coupling regime, we show that the so-called pseudogap first develops in these quantities with increasing the interaction strength. However, when the interaction becomes strong to some extent, the pseudogap becomes obscure to e…
We treat small trapped unequal-mass two-component Fermi gases at unitarity within a non-perturbative microscopic framework and investigate the system properties as functions of the mass ratio $κ$, and the numbers $N_{1}$ and $N_2$ of heavy and light fermions. While equal-mass Fermi gases with infinitely large interspecies s-wave scattering length $a_s$ are universal, we find that unequal mass Fermi gases are, for sufficiently large $κ$ and in the regime where Efimov physics is absent, not universal. In particular, the $(N_1,N_2)=(2,1)$ and $(3,1)$ systems exhibit three-body (3b) and four-body …
The properties of two-component Fermi gases with zero-range interactions are universal. We use an explicitly correlated Gaussian basis set expansion approach to investigate small equal-mass two-component Fermi gases under spherically symmetric external harmonic confinement. At unitarity, we determine the ground state energy for systems with up to ten particles interacting through finite-range two-body potentials for both even and odd number of particles. We extrapolate the energies to the zero-range limit using a novel scheme that removes the linear and, in some cases, also the quadratic depen…
We develop an accurate theory of resonantly interacting Fermi mixtures with both spin and mass imbalance. We consider Fermi mixtures with arbitrary mass imbalances, but focus in particular on the experimentally available ${}^{6}$Li-${}^{40}$K mixture. We determine the phase diagram of the mixture for different interactions strengths that lie on the BCS side of the Feshbach resonance. We also determine the universal phase diagram at unitarity. We find for the mixtures with a sufficiently large mass imbalance, that includes the ${}^{6}$Li-${}^{40}$K mixture, a Lifshitz point in the universal pha…
We examine spin diffusion in a two-component homogeneous Fermi gas in the normal phase. Using a variational approach, analytical results are presented for the spin diffusion coefficient and the related spin relaxation time as a function of temperature and interaction strength. For low temperatures, strong correlation effects are included through the Landau parameters which we extract from Monte Carlo results. We show that the spin diffusion coefficient has a minimum for a temperature somewhat below the Fermi temperature with a value that approaches the quantum limit $\sim\hbar/m$ in the unitar…
We show that the universal $1/k^4$ tail in the momentum distribution of dilute Fermi gases implies that the spectral function $A(\kk,ω)$ must have weight below the chemical potential for large momentum $k \gg k_F$, with observable consequences in RF spectroscopy experiments. We find that this incoherent spectral weight is centered about $ω\simeq - ε(\kk)$ in a range of energies of order $v_F k$. This "bending back" in the dispersion, while natural for superfluids, is quite surprising for normal gases. This universal structure is present in the hard-sphere gas as well as the Fermi liquid ground…
The growth rate of the out-of-time-ordered correlator in a N-flavor Fermi gas is investigated and the Lyapunove exponent $λ_L$ is calculated to the order of $1/N$. We find that the Lyapunove exponent monotonically increases as the the interaction strength increases from the BCS limit to the unitary region. At the unitarity the Lyapunove exponent increases while the temperature drops and it can reach to the order of $λ_L\sim T$ around the critical temperature for the $N=1$ case. The system scrambles faster for stronger pairing fluctuations. At the BCS limit, the Lyapunov exponent behaviors as $…
We study the superfluid state of atomic Fermi gases using a BCS-BEC crossover theory. Our approach emphasizes non-condensed fermion pairs which strongly hybridize with their (Feshbach-induced) molecular boson counterparts. These pairs lead to pseudogap effects above $T_c$ and non-BCS characteristics below. We discuss how these effects influence the experimental signatures of superfluidity.
The Hartree energy shift is calculated for a unitary Fermi gas. By including the momentum dependence of the scattering amplitude explicitly, the Hartree energy shift remains finite even at unitarity. Extending the theory also for spin-imbalanced systems allows calculation of polaron properties. The results are in good agreement with more involved theories and experiments.
We consider a spin imbalanced Fermi gas at zero temperature in the normal phase on the BCS side of the BCS-BEC crossover and around unitarity. We compute the critical polarization for pairing, the correlated occupation numbers and the contact in an extension of particle-particle RPA (also called non self-consistent \textit{T}-matrix approach or ladder approximation). The so-called renormalized RPA consists in computing the \textit{T} matrix with self-consistently determined occupation numbers. The occupation numbers are determined either by keeping the self-energy only to first order or by res…
We study the finite temperature $T$ behavior of trapped Fermi gases as they undergo BCS-Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover, in the presence of a population imbalance. Our results, in qualitative agreement with recent experiments, show how the superfluid phase transition is directly reflected in the particle density profiles. We demonstrate that at $ T \neq 0$ and in the near-BEC and unitary regimes, the polarization is excluded from the superfluid core. Nevertheless a substantial polarization fraction is carried by a normal region of the trap having strong pair correlations, which we a…
Harnessing spins as carriers for information has emerged as an elegant extension to the transport of electrical charges. The coherence of such spin transport in spintronic circuits is determined by the lifetime of spin excitations and by spin diffusion. Fermionic quantum gases are a unique system to study the fundamentals of spin transport from first principles since interactions can be precisely tailored and the dynamics is on time scales which are directly observable. In particular at unitarity, spin transport is dictated by diffusion and is expected to reach a universal, quantum-limited dif…
We present measurements of spin transport in ultracold gases of fermionic lithium-6 in a mixture of two spin states at a Feshbach resonance. In particular, we study the spin dipole mode, where the two spin components are displaced from each other against a harmonic restoring force. We prepare a highly-imbalanced, or polaronic, spin mixture with a spin dipole excitation and observe strong, unitarity limited damping of the spin dipole mode. In gases with small spin imbalance, below the Pauli limit for superfluidity, we observe strongly damped spin flow despite the presence of a superfluid core.
We study the transition from hydrodynamic to collisionless behavior in collective modes of ultracold trapped Fermi gases. To that end, we solve the Boltzmann equation for the trapped Fermi gas via the moments method. We showed previously that it is necessary to go beyond second-order moments if one wants to reproduce the results of a numerical solution of the Boltzmann equation. Here, we will give the detailed description of the method including fourth-order moments. We apply this method to the case of realistic parameters, and compare the results for the radial quadrupole and scissors modes a…
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…
We compute the thermal conductivity and sound attenuation length of a dilute atomic Fermi gas in the framework of kinetic theory. Above the critical temperature for superfluidity, T_c, the quasi-particles are fermions, whereas below T_c, the dominant excitations are phonons. We calculate the thermal conductivity in both cases. We find that at unitarity the thermal conductivity κin the normal phase scales as κ~ T^{3/2}. In the superfluid phase we find κ~ T^{2}. At high temperature the Prandtl number, the ratio of the momentum and thermal diffusion constants, is 2/3. The ratio increases as the t…
