Time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation for composite bosons as the strong-coupling limit of the fermionic BCS-RPA approximation

The linear response to a space- and time-dependent external disturbance of a system of dilute condensed composite bosons at zero temperature, as obtained from the linearized version of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, is shown to result also from the strong-coupling limit of the time-dependent BCS (or broken-symmetry RPA) approximation for the constituent fermions subject to the same external disturbance. In this way, it is possible to connect excited-state properties of the bosonic and fermionic systems by placing the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in perspective with the corresponding fermionic approximationsComment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Shrinking of a condensed fermionic cloud in a trap approaching the BEC limit

We determine the zero-temperature density profile of a cloud of fermionic atoms in a trap subject to a mutual attractive interaction, as the strength of the interaction is progressively increased. We find a significant decrease of the size of the atomic cloud as it evolves from the weak-coupling (BCS) regime of overlapping Cooper pairs to the strong-coupling (Bose-Einstein) regime of non-overlapping bound-fermion pairs. Most significantly, we find a pronounced increase of the value of the density at the center of the trap (even by an order of magnitude) when evolving between the two regimes. Our results are based on a generalized Thomas-Fermi approximation for the superfluid state, that covers continuously all coupling regimes.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figure

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is a second generation water Cherenkov detector designed to determine whether the currently observed solar neutrino deficit is a result of neutrino oscillations. The detector is unique in its use of D2O as a detection medium, permitting it to make a solar model-independent test of the neutrino oscillation hypothesis by comparison of the charged- and neutral-current interaction rates. In this paper the physical properties, construction, and preliminary operation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are described. Data and predicted operating parameters are provided whenever possible.Comment: 58 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Nucl. Inst. Meth. Uses elsart and epsf style files. For additional information about SNO see http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca . This version has some new reference