No Arabic abstract
We perform a variational quantum Monte Carlo simulation of the transition from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid (BCS) to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) at zero temperature. The model Hamiltonian involves an attractive short range two body interaction and the atoms number $2N =330$ is chosen so that, in the non-interacting limit, the ground state function corresponds to a closed shell configuration. The system is then characterized by the s-wave scattering length $a$ of the two-particle collisions in the gas, which is varied from negative to positive values, and the Fermi wave number $k_F$. Based on an extensive analysis of the s-wave two-body problem, one parameter variational many-body wave functions are proposed to describe the ground state of the interacting Fermi gas from BCS to BEC states. We exploit properties of antisymmetrized many-body functions to develop efficient techniques that permit variational calculations for a large number of particles. It is shown that a virial relation between the energy per particle and the trapping energy is approximately valid for $-0.1<1/k_Fa<3.4$. The influence of the harmonic trap and the interaction potential as exhibited in two-body correlation functions is also analyzed.
We study the short-time dynamics of a degenerate Fermi gas positioned near a Feshbach resonance following an abrupt jump in the atomic interaction resulting from a change of external magnetic field. We investigate the dynamics of the condensate order parameter and pair wavefunction for a range of field strengths. When the abrupt jump is sufficient to span the BCS to BEC crossover, we show that the rigidity of the momentum distribution precludes any atom-molecule oscillations in the entrance channel dominated resonances observed in the 40K and 6Li. Focusing on material parameters tailored to the 40K Feshbach resonance system at 202.1 gauss, we comment on the integrity of the fast sweet projection technique as a vehicle to explore the condensed phase in the crossover region
We report on experimental studies on the collective behavior of a strongly interacting Fermi gas with tunable interactions and variable temperature. A scissors mode excitation in an elliptical trap is used to characterize the dynamics of the quantum gas in terms of hydrodynamic or near-collisionless behavior. We obtain a crossover phase diagram for collisional properties, showing a large region where a non-superfluid strongly interacting gas shows hydrodynamic behavior. In a narrow interaction regime on the BCS side of the crossover, we find a novel temperature-dependent damping peak, suggesting a relation to the superfluid phase transition.
We determine the energetically lowest lying states in the BEC-BCS crossover regime of s-wave interacting two-component Fermi gases under harmonic confinement by solving the many-body Schrodinger equation using two distinct approaches. Essentially exact basis set expansion techniques are applied to determine the energy spectrum of systems with N=4 fermions. Fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo methods are applied to systems with up to N=20 fermions, and a discussion of different guiding functions used in the Monte Carlo approach to impose the proper symmetry of the fermionic system is presented. The energies are calculated as a function of the s-wave scattering length a_s for N=2-20 fermions and different mass ratios kappa of the two species. On the BEC and BCS sides, our energies agree with analytically-determined first-order correction terms. We extract the scattering length and the effective range of the dimer-dimer system up to kappa = 20. Our energies for the strongly-interacting trapped system in the unitarity regime show no shell structure, and are well described by a simple expression, whose functional form can be derived using the local density approximation, with one or two parameters. The universal parameter xi for the trapped system for various kappa is determined, and comparisons with results for the homogeneous system are presented.
We present an overview of our recent measurements on the crossover from a Bose-Einstein condensate of molecules to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid. The experiments are performed on a two-component spin-mixture of $^6$Li atoms, where a Fesh-bach resonance serves as the experimental key to tune the s-wave scattering length and thus to explore the various interaction regimes. In the BEC-BCS crossover, we have characterized the interaction energy by measuring the size of the trapped gas, we have studied collective excitation modes, and we have observed the pairing gap. Our observations provide strong evidence for superfluidity in the strongly interacting Fermi gas.
We study collective excitation modes of a fermionic gas of $^6$Li atoms in the BEC-BCS crossover regime. While measurements of the axial compression mode in the cigar-shaped trap close to a Feshbach resonance confirm theoretical expectations, the radial compression mode shows surprising features. In the strongly interacting molecular BEC regime we observe a negative frequency shift with increasing coupling strength. In the regime of a strongly interacting Fermi gas, an abrupt change in the collective excitation frequency occurs, which may be a signature for a transition from a superfluid to a collisionless phase.