No Arabic abstract
We theoretically investigate one-dimensional three-component spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gases in the presence of Zeeman field. By solving the Bogoliubov-de-Gennes equations, we obtain the phase diagram at given chemical potential and order parameter. We show that the system undergoes a phase transition from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid to topological superfluid as increasing the intensity of Zeeman field. By comparing to the two-component system, we find, besides the topological phase transition from the trivial superfluid to nontrivial topological superfluid, the system can always be in a nontrivial topological superfluid, and there are two Majorana zero energy regions while increasing the magnetic field. We find the three-component spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gases in certain parameter range is more optimizing for experimental realization due to the smaller magnetic field needed. We therefore propose a promising candidate for realizing topological superfluid.
The realization of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in ultracold atoms has triggered an intensive exploring of topological superfluids in the degenerate Fermi gases based on mean-field theory, which has not yet been reported in experiments. Here, we demonstrate the topological phase transitions in the system via the numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo method. Without prior assumptions, our unbiased real-space calculation shows that spin-orbit coupling can stabilize an unconventional pairing in the weak SOC regime, in which the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing coexists with the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pairing. Furthermore, we use the jumps in the spin polarization at the time-reversal invariant momenta to qualify the topological phase transition, where we find the critical exponent deviated from the mean-field theory. Our results pave the way for the searching of unconventional pairing and topological superfluids with degenerate Fermi gases.
The recent experimental realization of synthetic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) opens a new avenue for exploring novel quantum states with ultracold atoms. However, in experiments for generating two-dimensional SOC (e.g., Rashba type), a perpendicular Zeeman field, which opens a band gap at the Dirac point and induces many topological phenomena, is still lacking. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally realize a simple scheme for generating two-dimension SOC and a perpendicular Zeeman field simultaneously in ultracold Fermi gases by tuning the polarization of three Raman lasers that couple three hyperfine ground states of atoms. The resulting band gap opening at the Dirac point is probed using spin injection radio-frequency spectroscopy. Our observation may pave the way for exploring topological transport and topological superfluids with exotic Majorana and Weyl fermion excitations in ultracold atoms.
Majorana fermions are promising candidates for storing and processing information in topological quantum computation. The ability to control such individual information carriers in trapped ultracold atomic Fermi gases is a novel theme in quantum information science. However, fermionic atoms are neutral and thus are difficult to manipulate. Here, we theoretically investigate the control of emergent Majorana fermions in one-dimensional spin-orbit coupled atomic Fermi gases. We discuss (i) how to move Majorana fermions by increasing or decreasing an effective Zeeman field, which acts like a solid state control voltage gate; and (ii) how to create a pair of Majorana fermions by adding a magnetic impurity potential. We discuss the experimental realization of our control scheme in an ultracold Fermi gas of $^{40}$K atoms.
In this letter we address the issue how synthetic spin-orbit (SO) coupling can strongly affect three-body physics in ultracold atomic gases. We consider a system which consists of three fermionic atoms, including two spinless heavy atoms and one spin-1/2 light atom subjected to an isotropic SO coupling. We find that SO coupling can induce universal three-body bound states with negative s-wave scattering length at a smaller mass ratio, where no trimer bound state can exist if in the absence of SO coupling. The energies of these trimers are independent of high-energy cutoff, and therefore they are universal ones. Moreover, the resulting atom-dimer resonance can be effectively controlled by SO coupling strength. Our results can be applied to systems like ${}^6$Li and ${}^{40}$K mixture.
This review focuses on recent developments on studying synthetic spin-orbit (SO) coupling in ultracold atomic gases. Two types of SO coupling are discussed. One is Raman process induced coupling between spin and motion along one of the spatial directions, and the other is Rashba SO coupling. We emphasize their common features in both single-particle and two-body physics and their consequences in many-body physics. For instance, single particle ground state degeneracy leads to novel features of superfluidity and richer phase diagram; increased low-energy density-of-state enhances interaction effects; the absence of Galilean invariance and spin-momentum locking give rise to intriguing behaviors of superfluid critical velocity and novel quantum dynamics; and mixing of two-body singlet and triplet states yields novel fermion pairing structure and topological superfluids. With these examples, we show that investigating SO coupling in cold atom systems can enrich our understanding of basic phenomena such as superfluidity, provide a good platform for simulating condensed matter states such as topological superfluids, and more importantly, result in novel quantum systems such as SO coupled unitary Fermi gas or high spin quantum gases. Finally we also point out major challenges and possible future directions.