The pseudogap phenomenon is a hallmark of strongly interacting Fermi systems, from high-temperature superconductors to ultracold atomic gases, yet its precise origin remains debated. Here we calculate the spectral function and rf spectra of ultracold atomic gases across the BCS-BEC crossover to quantitatively investigate the pairing mechanism of the pseudogap. We advance our pairing fluctuation theory by incorporating particle-hole fluctuations, which renormalize the effective interaction in the particle-particle channel. To achieve quantitative accuracy, we employ a full numerical convolution for the pair susceptibility and self-energy, moving beyond previous analytic pseudogap approximations. This convolution approach automatically captures two critical effects: (i) the full spectral broadening of fermions due to finite pair lifetime, and (ii) the previously neglected pair-hole scattering effect, which manifests as a substantial Hartree energy. We calculate the spectral function, and use rf spectral intensity maps and energy distribution curves to determine the quasiparticle dispersion. From these, we extract the pseudogap $Δ$, Hartree energy, and chemical potential, mapping their evolution across the crossover. Our results show that the pseudogap emerges continuously as the system moves from the BCS regime toward BEC. Furthermore, the pair spectral function reveals that pairs become diffusive at energies above 2$Δ$, indicating that the pair lifetime is governed by virtual binding and unbinding processes. Our calculations achieve quantitative agreement with recent experiments across the BCS-BEC crossover, including at unitarity, providing strong support for a pairing-based origin of the pseudogap as described by our pairing fluctuation theory.
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 originating from pairing fluctuations in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a two-dimensional Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. Including pairing fluctuations within a $T$-matrix theory and effects of a trap within the local density approximation, we calculate the local density of states (LDOS) at the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. In the weak-coupling regime, we show that the pseudogap already appears in LDOS around the trap center. The spatial region where the pseudogap can be seen in LDOS becomes wider for a strong pairing interaction. We al…
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 investigate single-particle excitations and strong-coupling effects in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a superfluid Fermi gas. Including phase and amplitude fluctuations of the superfluid order parameter within a $T$-matrix theory, we calculate the superfluid density of states (DOS), as well as single-particle spectral weight, over the entire BCS-BEC crossover region below the superfluid transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. We clarify how the pseudogap in the normal state evolves into the superfluid gap, as one passes through $T_{\rm c}$. While the pseudogap in DOS continuously evolves into …
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 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…
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…
The description of heteropairs like $^{40}$K-$^6$Li near and in the superconducting state requires a fully selfconsistent theory [see Hanai and Ohashi, Phys. Rev. A 90, 043622 (2014)]. We derive analytic pseudogap Green's functions for the "normal" and superconducting states from the Luttinger-Ward theory with the T-matrix in the static separable approximation. The self-consistency in the closing loop of self-energy has two pronounced effects on the single-particle spectrum. First, the single-particle excitations decay before the asymptotic quasiparticle propagation is established, therefore t…
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 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 consider spin transport in a two-component ultracold Fermi gas with attractive interspecies interactions close to the BCS pairing transition. In particular, we consider the spin-transport relaxation rate and the spin-diffusion constant. Upon approaching the transition, the scattering amplitude is enhanced by pairing fluctuations. However, as the system approaches the transition, the spectral weight for excitations close to the Fermi level is decreased by the formation of a pseudogap. To study the consequence of these two competing effects, we determine the spin-transport relaxation rate and…
Strongly correlated Fermi systems with pairing interactions become superfluid below a critical temperature $T_c$. The extent to which such pairing correlations alter the behavior of the liquid at temperatures $T > T_c$ is a subtle issue that remains an area of debate, in particular regarding the appearance of the so-called pseudogap in the BCS-BEC crossover of unpolarized spin-$1/2$ nonrelativistic matter. To shed light on this, we extract several quantities of crucial importance at and around the unitary limit, namely: the odd-even staggering of the total energy, the spin susceptibility, the …
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…
Due to the large neutron-neutron scattering length, dilute neutron matter resembles the unitary Fermi gas, which lies half-way in the crossover from the BCS phase of weakly coupled Cooper pairs to the Bose-Einstein condensate of dimers. We discuss crossover effects in analogy with the T-matrix theory used in the physics of ultracold atoms, which we generalize to the case of a non-separable finite-range interaction. A problem of the standard Nozieres-Schmitt-Rink approach and different ways to solve it are discussed. It is shown that in the strong-coupling regime, the spectral function exhibits…
We build a holographic model for the pairing fluctuation pseudogap phase in fermionic high temperature superconductivity/superfluidity based on the BCS-BEC crossover scenario. The pseudogap originates from incoherent Cooper pairing and has been observed in recent cold atom experiments. The strength of Cooper pairing and hence the BCS-BEC crossover is controlled by an effective 4-Fermi interaction and we argue that the double-trace deformation for charged scalar operator is a close analog in large N field theories. We employ the double-trace deformed Abelian Higgs model of holographic supercond…
We theoretically investigate the uniform spin susceptibility $χ$ in the superfluid phase of an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. In our previous paper [H. Tajima, {\it et. al.}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 89}, 033617 (2014)], including pairing fluctuations within an extended $T$-matrix approximation (ETMA), we showed that strong pairing fluctuations cause the so-called spin-gap phenomenon, where $χ$ is anomalously suppressed even in the normal state near the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. In this paper, we…
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 investigate the uniform spin susceptibility $χ_{\rm s}$ in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas. Including pairing fluctuations within the framework of an extended $T$-matrix approximation, we show that $χ_{\rm s}$ exhibits non-monotonic temperature dependence in the normal state. In particular, $χ_{\rm s}$ is suppressed near the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ due to strong pairing fluctuations. To characterize this anomalous behavior, we introduce the spin-gap temperature $T_{\rm s}$ as the temp…
We study the mass imbalanced Fermi-Fermi mixture within the framework of a two-dimensional lattice fermion model. Based on the thermodynamic and species dependent quasiparticle behavior we map out the finite temperature phase diagram of this system and show that unlike the balanced Fermi superfluid there are now two different pseudogap regimes as PG-I and PG-II. While within the PG-I regime both the fermionic species are pseudogapped, PG-II corresponds to the regime where pseudogap feature survives only in the light species. We believe that the single particle spectral features that we discuss…
We investigate single-particle excitations and strong-coupling effects in a two-dimensional Fermi gas. Including pairing fluctuations within a Gaussian fluctuation theory, we calculate the density of states $ρ(ω)$ near the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature $T_{\rm BKT}$. Near $T_{\rm BKT}$, we show that superfluid fluctuations induce a pseudogap in $ρ(ω)$. The pseudogap structure is very similar to the BCS superfluid density of states, although the superfluid order parameter is absent in the present two-dimensional case. Since a two-dimensional $^{40}$K Fermi gas has…
We investigate single-particle excitation properties in the normal state of a two-band superconductor or superfluid throughout the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein-condensation (BEC) crossover, within the many-body T-matrix approximation for multi-channel pairing fluctuations. We address the single-particle density of states and the spectral functions consisting of two contributions associated with a waekly interacting deep band and a strongly interacting shallow band, relevant for iron-based multiband superconductors and multicomponent fermionic superfluids. We show how the ps…
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…
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. …
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 investigate the shear viscosity $η$ 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 $η$ diverges in both the weak-coupling BCS and strong-coupling BEC limits, it becomes small in the unitary regime. The minimum of $η$ is obtained, not at th…
We investigate strong-coupling corrections to single-particle excitations in the normal state of a spin-polarized unitary Fermi gas. Within the framework of an extended T-matrix approximation, we calculate the single-particle density of states, as well as the single-particle spectral weight, to show that the so-called pseudogap phenomenon gradually disappears with increasing the magnitude of an effective magnetic field. In the highly spin-polarized regime, the calculated spin-polarization rate as a function of the effective magnetic field agrees well with the recent experiment on a 6Li Fermi g…
We theoretically investigate strong-coupling properties of an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover regime in the non-equilibrium steady state, being coupled with two fermion baths. By developing a non-equilibrium strong-coupling theory based on the combined $T$-matrix approximation with the Keldysh Green's function technique, we show that the chemical potential bias applied by the two baths gives rise to the anomalous enhancement of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) type pairing fluctuations (although the system has no spin imbalance), resulting in the re-entrant behavior of the …
We calculate the single particle spectral density of a normal (non-superfluid) two component gas of fermions in the BCS-BEC crossover within a T-matrix approximation. We review how non-condensed pairs lead to a spectral density reminiscent of the ordered state, and explore how a gap-like feature in the spectrum evolves as one changes the polarization of the gas. As the gas is polarized we find that this pseudogap becomes more diffuse and moves away from the Fermi level, reflecting the fact that fewer pairs are present but that they still play an important role in the excitations.
We theoretically investigate single particle excitations in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein-Condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas. Including strong pairing fluctuations within a $T$-matrix approximation, as well as effects of a harmonic trap potential in the local density approximation, we calculate the local photoemission spectrum in the normal state. Recently, JILA group has measured this quantity in a $^{40}$K Fermi gas, in order to examine homogeneous single-particle properties of this system. Comparing our results with this experiment, we show tha…
We demonstrate the rise-and-fall of multiple pseudogaps in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer-Bose-Einstein-condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover in two-band fermionic systems having different pairing strengths in the deep band and in the shallow band. The striking features of this phenomenon are an unusual many-body screening of pseudogap state and the importance of pair-exchange couplings, which induces multiple pseudogap formation in the two bands. The multi-band configuration suppresses pairing fluctuations and the pseudogap opening in the strongly-interacting shallow band at small pair-exchange cou…
We theoretically investigate normal-state properties of an ultracold Fermi gas with an orbital Feshbach resonance (OFR). Recently, OFR has attracted much attention as a promising pairing mechanism to realize a superfluid 173Yb Fermi gas. Including pairing fluctuations within a T-matrix approximation, and removing effects of an experimentally inaccessible deep bound state, we evaluate strong-coupling corrections to single-particle excitations. With increasing the strength of an OFR-induced tunable pairing interaction, the open channel is shown to exhibit the pseudogap phenomenon in the BCS-BEC …
We investigate the superfluid phase transition and single-particle excitations in the BCS (Bareen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas with mass imbalance. In our recent paper [R. Hanai, et. al., Phys. Rev. A 88, 053621 (2013)], we showed that an extended $T$-matrix approximation (ETMA) can overcome the serious problem known in the ordinary (non-self-consistent) $T$-matrix approximation that it unphysically gives double-valued superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ in the presence of mass imbalance. However, at the same tim…
This review is written at the time of the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of high temperature superconductors, which, nearly coincides with the important discovery of the superfluid phases of ultracold trapped fermionic atoms. We show how these two subjects have much in common. Both have been addressed from the perspective of the BCS-Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover scenario, which is designed to treat short coherence length superfluids with transition temperatures which are "high", with respect to the Fermi energy. A generalized mean field treatment of BCS-BEC crossover at ge…
We investigate single-particle properties of a mass-imbalanced Fermi gas in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. In the presence of mass imbalance, we point out that the ordinary $T$-matrix approximation, which has been extensively used to clarify various BCS-BEC crossover physics in the mass-balanced case, unphysically gives a double-valued solution in terms of the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ in the crossover region. To overcome this serious problem, we include higher order strong-coupling corrections beyond the $T$-mat…
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 review the BCS to Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover scenario which is based on the well known crossover generalization of the BCS ground state wavefunction $Ψ_0$. While this ground state has been summarized extensively in the literature, this Review is devoted to less widely discussed issues: understanding the effects of finite temperature, primarily below $T_c$, in a manner consistent with $Ψ_0$. Our emphasis is on the intersection of two important problems: high $T_c$ superconductivity and superfluidity in ultracold fermionic atomic gases. We address the "pseudogap state" in the …
We study the effect of high population imbalance in the two dimensional attractive Hubbard model, in the coupling regime corresponding to BCS-BEC crossover, and focus on thermal effects on the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. Using a method that retains all the classical thermal fluctuations on the FFLO state we estimate a very low $T_c$ and infer a strongly first order normal state to FFLO transition. The $T_c$ is an order of magnitude below the mean field estimate. We track the fermionic momentum distribution, the density of states, and the pairing structure factor deep into th…
We investigate magnetic properties and effects of pairing fluctuations in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas. Recently, Liu and Hu, and Parish, pointed out that the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink (NSR), which has been extensively used to successfully clarify various physical properties of cold Fermi gases, unphysically gives negative spin susceptibility in the BCS-BEC crossover region. The same problem is found to also exist in the ordinary non-self-consistent T-matrix approximation. In …
We investigate pairing in a strongly interacting two-component Fermi gas with positive scattering length. In this regime, pairing occurs at temperatures above the superfluid critical temperature; unbound fermions and pairs coexist in thermal equilibrium. Measuring the total number of these fermion pairs in the gas we systematically investigate the phases in the sectors of pseudogap and preformed-pair. Our measurements quantitatively test predictions from two theoretical models. Interestingly, we find that already a model based on classical atom-molecule equilibrium describes our data quite wel…
We show that the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state (BCS) and the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) sides of the BCS-BEC crossover can be rigorously distinguished from each other by the extrema of the spectrum of the fermionic excitations. Moreover, we demonstrate that this formal distinction is realized as a non-equilibrium phase transition under radio frequency radiation. The BEC phase remains translationally invariant, whereas the BCS phase transforms into the supersolid phase. For a two-dimensional system this effect occurs at arbitrary small amplitude of the radiation field.
We derive a generalized time-dependent Galilean-invariant density-functional (DF) equation appropriate to study the stationary and non-stationary properties of a trapped Fermi super-fluid in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCS) crossover. This equation is equivalent to a quantum hydrodynamical equation for a Fermi super-fluid. The bulk chemical potential of this equation has the proper (model-independent) dependence on the Fermi-Fermi scattering length in the BCS and BEC limits. We apply this DF equation to the study of stationary density profile and size of …
We develop a self-consistent theory unifying the description of a quantum Fermi gas in the presence of a Fano-Feshbach resonance in the whole phase diagram ranging from BCS to BEC type of superfluidity and from narrow to broad resonances, including the fluctuations beyond mean field. Our theory covers a part of the phase diagram which is not easily accessible by Quantum Monte Carlo simulations and is becoming interesting for a new class of experiments in cold atoms.
We investigate the phase diagram and the BCS-BEC crossover of a homogeneous three-component ultracold Fermi gas with a U(3) invariant attractive interaction. We show that the system at sufficiently low temperatures exhibits population imbalance, as well as fermionic pairing. We describe the crossover in this system, connecting the weakly interacting BCS regime of the partially population-imbalanced fermion pairing state and the BEC limit with three weakly interacting species of molecules, including pairing fluctuations within a t-matrix calculation of the particle self-energies.
We show that the long-distance behavior of the two-body density correlation functions and the Cooper-pair probability density of a balanced mixture of a two-component Fermi gas at $T = 0$, is universal along the BEC-BCS crossover. Our result is demonstrated by numerically solving the mean-field BCS model for different finite short-range atomic interaction potentials. We find an analytic expression for the correlation length in terms of the chemical potential and the energy gap at zero momentum.
We investigate the photoemission-type spectrum in a cold Fermi gas which was recently measured by JILA group [J. T. Stewart {\it et al}., Nature \textbf{454}, 744 (2008)]. This quantity gives us very useful information about single-particle properties in the BCS-BEC crossover. In this letter, including pairing fluctuations within a $T$-matrix theory, as well as effects of a harmonic trap within the local density approximation, we show that spatially inhomogeneous pairing fluctuations due to the trap potential is an important key to understand the observed spectrum. In the crossover region, whi…
We study the superfluid critical temperature in a two-band attractive Fermi system with strong pairing fluctuations associated with both interband and intraband couplings. We focus specifically on a configuration where the intraband coupling is varied from weak to strong in a shallow band coupled to a weakly-interacting deeper band. The whole crossover from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) condensation of largely overlapping Cooper pairs to the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of tightly bound molecules is covered by our analysis, which is based on the extension of the Nozières-Schmitt-Rink…
BCS--Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover is effected by increasing pairing strength between fermions from weak to strong in the particle-particle channel. Here we study the effect of the particle-hole channel on the zero $T$ gap $Δ(0)$, superfluid transition temperature $T_{\text{c}}$ and the pseudogap at $T_{\text{c}}$, as well as the mean-field ratio $2Δ(0)/T_{\text{c}}^{\text{MF}}$, from BCS through BEC regimes, in the framework of a pairing fluctuation theory which includes self-consistently the contributions of finite-momentum pairs. These pairs necessarily lead to a pseudogap in s…
In a recent experiment [M. Feld et al., Nature 480, 75 (2011); B. Froehlich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109,130403 (2012)], a pairing gap was detected in a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gas with attractive interaction at temperatures where superfluidity does not occur. The question remains open as to whether this gap is a pseudogap phenomenon or is due to a molecular state. In this paper, by using a t-matrix approach, we reproduce quite well the experimental data for a 2D Fermi gas, and set the boundary between the pseudogap and molecular regimes. We also show that pseudogap phenomena occurring in 2…
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.
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…
The physics of the crossover between weak-coupling Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) and strong-coupling Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) limits gives a unified framework of quantum bound (superfluid) states of interacting fermions. This crossover has been studied in the ultracold atomic systems, but is extremely difficult to be realized for electrons in solids. Recently, the superconducting semimetal FeSe with a transition temperature $T_{\rm c}=8.5$ K has been found to be deep inside the BCS-BEC crossover regime. Here we report experimental signatures of preformed Cooper pairing in FeSe below $T…
The crossover between low and high density regimes of exciton-polariton condensates is examined using a BCS wavefunction approach. Our approach is an extension of the BEC-BCS crossover theory for excitons, but includes a cavity photon field. The approach can describe both the low density limit, where the system can be described as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of exciton-polaritons, and the high density limit, where the system enters a photon dominated regime. In contrast to the exciton BEC-BCS crossover where the system approaches an electron-hole plasma, the polariton high density limit h…
We investigate the specific heat at constant volume $C_V$ in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas above the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. Within the framework of the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink, we show that this thermodynamic quantity is sensitive to the stability of preformed Cooper pairs. That is, while $C_V(T\gesim T_{\rm c})$ in the unitary regime is remarkably enhanced by {\it metastable} preformed Cooper pairs or pairing fluctuations, it is well described b…
We investigate the BCS-BEC crossover taking into account an additional three-body interaction, which is essentially the scattering between the Cooper pairs and the newly formed bosons. We show that if the two-body interaction is attractive, the presence of this additional three-body term makes the crossover process a nonreversible one. Starting from a stable Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) state, crossover to BCS can be achieved; but if the BCS state is the starting point, instead of a stable BEC region, what the system crosses over to is a metastable condensed state.
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…
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measures the single-particle excitations of a many-body quantum system with both energy and momentum resolution, providing detailed information about strongly interacting materials. ARPES is a direct probe of fermion pairing, and hence a natural technique to study the development of superconductivity in a variety of experimental systems ranging from high temperature superconductors to unitary Fermi gases. In these systems a remnant gap-like feature persists in the normal state, which is referred to as a pseudogap. A quantitative understanding o…
We study thermodynamics of a two-species Feshbach-resonant atomic Fermi gas in a periodic potential, focusing in a deep optical potential where a tight binding model is applicable. We show that for more than half-filled band the gas exhibits a reentrant crossover with decreased detuning (increased attractive interaction), from a paired BCS superfluid to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of molecules of holes, back to the BCS superfluid, and finally to a conventional BEC of diatomic molecules. This behavior is associated with the non-monotonic dependence of the chemical potential on detuning and…
The theoretical description of the critical temperature Tc of a Fermi superfluid dates back to the work by Gor'kov and Melik-Barkhudarov (GMB), who addressed it for a weakly-coupled (dilute) superfluid in the BCS (weak-coupling) limit of the BCS-BEC crossover. The point made by GMB was that particle-particle (pairing) excitations, which are responsible for superfluidity to occur below Tc, and particle-hole excitations, which give rise to screening also in a normal system, get effectively disentangled from each other in the BCS limit, thus yielding a reduction by a factor 2.2 of the value of Tc…
We calculate the parameters of the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equation of a three-dimensional attractive Fermi gas around the superfluid critical temperature. We compare different levels of approximation throughout the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) regime. We show that the inclusion of Gaussian fluctuations strongly modifies the values of the Ginzburg-Landau parameters approaching the BEC regime of the crossover. We investigate the reliability of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, with fluctuations, studying the behavior of the coherence length and of the critical ro…
