We investigate the optical properties of hydrogen as it undergoes a transition from the insulating molecular to the metallic atomic phase, when heated by a pulsed laser at megabar pressures in a diamond anvil cell. Most current experiments attempt to
observe this transition by detecting a change in the optical reflectance and/or transmittance. Theoretical models for this change are based on the dielectric function calculated for bulk, homogeneous slabs of material. Experimentally, one expects a hydrogen plasma density that varies on a length scale not substantially smaller than the wave length of the probing light. We show that taking this inhomogeneity into account can lead to significant corrections in the reflectance and transmittance. We present a technique to calculate the optical properties of systems with a smoothly varying density of charge carriers, determine the optical response for metallic hydrogen in the diamond anvil cell experiment and contrast this with the standard results. Analyzing recent experimental results we obtain $sigma^{Drude}_{DC}=(2.1 pm 1.3) times 10^3$ ($Omega$ cm)$^{-1}$ for the conductivity of metallic hydrogen at 170 GPa and 1250 K.
It has long been predicted that a two-component non-localized Fermi gas will exhibit spontaneous polarization for sufficiently strong repulsive interactions, a phenomenon which is called itinerant ferromagnetism. Recent experiments with ultracold ato
mic gases have reached the interaction strength for which theoretical models have predicted the occurrence of the normal-to-itinerant-ferromagnetic phase transition, but so far this transition has not been observed. The instability of the repulsive branch of the Feshbach resonance prevents the formation of the itinerant ferromagnetic state, but it is not clear whether this is the only instability impeding its experimental realization. In this article, we use the path-integral formalism with density fields in the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation to study the stability of a homogeneous two-component Fermi gas with contact interactions. Within the saddle-point approximation we show that none of the extrema of the action are minima, meaning all extrema are unstable to small density fluctuations. This implies a more general mechanical instability of the polarized (itinerant ferromagnetic) and normal states of the system in the path-integral formalism. We find that it is important to consider the stability of the system when studying itinerant ferromagnetism. Since (mechanical) stability may be influenced by the details of the interaction potential, we suggest the use of a more realistic potential than the contact potential in future theoretical descriptions.
The interplay between dimensionality, coherence and interaction in superfluid Fermi gases is analyzed by the phase correlation function of the field of fermionic pairs. We calculate this phase correlation function for a two-dimensional superfluid Fer
mi gas with $s$-wave interactions within the Gaussian pair fluctuation formalism. The spatial behavior of the correlation function is shown to exhibit a rapid (exponential) decay at short distances and a characteristic algebraic decay at large distances, with an exponent matching that expected from Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless theory of 2D Bose superfluids. We conclude that the Gaussian pair fluctuation approximation is able to capture the physics of quasi long-range order in two-dimensional Fermi gases.
We use a finite temperature effective field theory recently developed for superfluid Fermi gases to investigate the properties of dark solitons in these superfluids. Our approach provides an analytic solution for the dip in the order parameter and th
e phase profile accross the soliton, which can be compared with results obtained in the framework of the Bogoliubov - de Gennes equations. We present results in the whole range of the BCS-BEC crossover, for arbitrary temperatures, and taking into account Gaussian fluctuations about the saddle point. The obtained analytic solutions yield an exact energy-momentum relation for a dark soliton showing that the soliton in a Fermi gas behaves like a classical particle even at nonzero temperatures. The spatial profile of the pair field and for the parameters of state for the soliton are analytically studied. In the strong-coupling regime and/or for sufficiently high temperatures, the obtained analytic solutions match well the numeric results obtained using the Bogoliubov - de Gennes equations.
The variational Feynman formalism for the polaron, extended to an all-coupling treatment of bipolarons, is applied for two impurity atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate. This shows that if the polaronic coupling strength is large enough the impurities
will form a bound state (the bipolaron). As a function of the mutual repulsion between the impurities two types of bipolaron are distinguished: a tightly bound bipolaron at weak repulsion and a dumbbell bipolaron at strong repulsion. Apart from the binding energy, also the evolution of the bipolaron radius and its effective mass are examined as a function of the strength of the repulsive interaction between the impurities and of the polaronic cupling strength. We then apply the strong-coupling formalism to multiple impuritiy atoms in a condensate which leads to the prediction of multi-polaron formation in the strong coupling regime. The results of the two formalisms are compared for two impurities in a condensate which results in a general qualitative agreement and a quantitative agreement at strong coupling. Typically the system of impurity atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is expected to exhibit the polaronic weak coupling regime. However, the polaronic coupling strength is in principle tunable with a Feshbach resonance.
The interface superconductivity in LaAlO$_{3}$-SrTiO$_{3}$ heterostructures reveals a non-monotonic behavior of the critical temperature as a function of the two-dimensional density of charge carriers. We develop a theoretical description of interfac
e superconductivity in strongly polar heterostructures, based on the dielectric function formalism. The density dependence of the critical temperature is calculated accounting for all phonon branches including different types of optical (interface and half-space) and acoustic phonons. The LO- and acoustic-phonon-mediated electron-electron interaction is shown to be the dominating mechanism governing the superconducting phase transition in the heterostructure.
Using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory we demonstrate that the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, resulting from a Berry phase shift of the (macroscopic) wavefunction, is revealed through the dynamics of topological phase defects present in that same wa
vefunction. We study vortices and antivortices on the surface of a hollow superconducting cylinder, moving on circular orbits as they are subjected to the force from the current flowing parallel to the cylinder axis. Due to the AB effect the orbit deflections, caused by a magnetic field component along the cylinder axis, become periodic as a function of field, leading to strong and robust resistance oscillations.
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 the recent experimental measument of the pairing in the two-dimensional Fermi gas. The removal of the infrared divergence in the number equations is shown both numerically and analytically, through a study of the long-wavelength and low-energy limit of the pair fluctuation density. Besides the pseudogap temperature, also the pair formation temperature and the critical temperature for superfluidity are derived. The latter corresponds to the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) temperature. The pseudogap temperature, which coincides with the pair formation temperature in mean field, is found to be suppressed with respect to the pair formation temperature by fluctuations. This suppression is strongest for large binding energies of the pairs. Finally, we investigate how the pair formation temperature, the pseudogap temperature and the BKT temperature behave as a function of both binding energy and imbalance between the pairing partners in the Fermi gas. This allows to set up phase diagrams for the two-dimensional Fermi gas, in which the superfluid phase, the phase-fluctuating quasicondensate, and the normal state can be identified.
The spectra of low-lying pair excitations for an imbalanced two-component superfluid Fermi gas are analytically derived within the path-integral formalism taking into account Gaussian fluctuations about the saddle point. The spectra are obtained for
nonzero temperatures, both with and without imbalance, and for arbitrary interaction strength. On the basis of the pair excitation spectrum, we have calculated the thermodynamic parameters of state of cold fermions and the first and second sound velocities. The parameters of pair excitations show a remarkable agreement with the Monte Carlo data and with experiment.
An equilibrium multielectron bubble in liquid helium is a fascinating object with a spherical two-dimensional electron gas on its surface. We describe two ways of creating them. MEBs have been observed in the dome of a cylindrical cell with an unexpe
ctedly short lifetime; we show analytically why these MEBs can discharge by tunneling. Using a novel method, MEBs have been extracted from a vapor sheath around a hot filament in superfluid helium by applying electric fields up to 15 kV/cm, and photographed with high-speed video. Charges as high as 1.6x10-9 C (~1010 electrons) have been measured. The latter method provides a means of capture in an electromagnetic trap to allow the study of the extensive exciting properties of these elusive objects.
