Limits to Sympathetic Evaporative Cooling of a Two-Component Fermi Gas

We find a limit cycle in a quasi-equilibrium model of evaporative cooling of a two-component fermion gas. The existence of such a limit cycle represents an obstruction to reaching the quantum ground state evaporatively. We show that evaporatively the \beta\mu ~ 1. We speculate that one may be able to cool an atomic fermi gas further by photoassociating dimers near the bottom of the fermi sea.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev

Intrapulmonary expression of PPAR in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension [abstract]

Abstract only availableFaculty Mentor: Jeffrey Skimming MD and Vincent DeMarco PhD, Child HealthActivation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) inhibits vascular smooth muscle proliferation and neointimal formation associated with pulmonary hypertension. Recently, our laboratory developed a model of pulmonary hypertension incorporating both pnuemonectomy (PNX) of the left lung and exposure to monocrotaline (MCT) in rats. Together, PNX and MCT caused inflammation and vascular remodeling within the right lung including smooth muscle proliferation and neointimal formation. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that PNX/MCT dual insult induces pulmonary hypertension by decreasing PPARγ expression. METHODS: Sixteen rats were randomly divided into four groups: 1) PNX/MCT, 2) PNX/Phosphate Buffer Solution (PBS), 3) Sham Surgery (SS)/MCT, and 4) SS/PBS. Seven days after surgery, we injected the animals with either monocrotaline (60 mg/kg, s.q.) or PBS. Three weeks after those injections, right ventricular systolic pressures (RVSP) were measured. Lung tissue was harvested for analysis of PPARγ protein expression and histopathology. Right ventricular to left ventricular plus septum ratios (RVR) were also determined. RESULTS: PNX/MCT animals exhibited higher RVSPs and RVRs than the other treatment groups. Also, morphometric analysis revealed medial hypertrophy and neointimal formation within the resistance vessels of PNX/MCT rat lungs. In our study, neither PNX nor MCT alone had an effect on intrapulmonary expression of PPARγ protein. Surprisingly, however, the dual insult induced PPARγ expression (

Resonant control of elastic collisions in an optically trapped Fermi gas of atoms

We have loaded an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms into a far off resonance optical dipole trap and precisely controlled the spin composition of the trapped gas. We have measured a magnetic-field Feshbach resonance between atoms in the two lowest energy spin-states, |9/2, -9/2> and |9/2, -7/2>. The resonance peaks at a magnetic field of 201.5 plus or minus 1.4 G and has a width of 8.0 plus or minus 1.1 G. Using this resonance we have changed the elastic collision cross section in the gas by nearly 3 orders of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Cooper Pairing in Ultracold K-40 Using Feshbach Resonances

We point out that the fermionic isotope K-40 is a likely candidate for the formation of Cooper pairs in an ultracold atomic gas. Specifically, in an optical trap that simultaneously traps the spin states |9/2,-9/2> and |9/2,-7/2>, there exists a broad magnetic field Feshbach resonance at B = 196 gauss that can provide the required strong attractive interaction between atoms. An additional resonance, at B = 191 gauss, could generate p-wave pairing between identical |9/2,-7/2> atoms. A Cooper-paired degenerate Fermi gas could thus be constructed with existing ultracold atom technology.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Collisionless collective modes of fermions in magnetic traps

We present a Random-Phase-Approximation formalism for the collective spectrum of two hyperfine species of dilute 40K atoms, magnetically trapped at zero temperature and subjected to a repulsive s-wave interaction between atoms with different spin projections. We examine the density-like and the spin-like oscillation spectra, as well as the transition density profiles created by external multipolar fields. The zero sound spectrum is always fragmented and the density and spin channels become clearly distinguishable if the trapping potentials acting on the species are identical. Although this distinction is lost when these confining fields are different, at selected excitation frequencies the transition densities may display the signature of the channel.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Evaporative cooling of trapped fermionic atoms

We propose an efficient mechanism for the evaporative cooling of trapped fermions directly into quantum degeneracy. Our idea is based on an electric field induced elastic interaction between trapped atoms in spin symmetric states. We discuss some novel general features of fermionic evaporative cooling and present numerical studies demonstrating the feasibility for the cooling of alkali metal fermionic species $^6$Li, $^{40}$K, and $^{82,84,86}$Rb. We also discuss the sympathetic cooling of fermionic hyperfine spin mixtures, including the effects of anisotropic interactions.Comment: to be publishe

Scattering of short laser pulses from trapped fermions

We investigate the scattering of intense short laser pulses off trapped cold fermionic atoms. We discuss the sensitivity of the scattered light to the quantum statistics of the atoms. The temperature dependence of the scattered light spectrum is calculated. Comparisons are made with a system of classical atoms who obey Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. We find the total scattering increases as the fermions become cooler but eventually tails off at very low temperatures (far below the Fermi temperature). At these low temperatures the fermionic degeneracy plays an important role in the scattering as it inhibits spontaneous emission into occupied energy levels below the Fermi surface. We demonstrate temperature dependent qualitative changes in the differential and total spectrum can be utilized to probe quantum degeneracy of trapped Fermi gas when the total number of atoms are sufficiently large $(\geq 10^6)$. At smaller number of atoms, incoherent scattering dominates and it displays weak temperature dependence.Comment: updated figures and revised content, submitted to Phys.Rev.

The Present and Future of Planetary Nebula Research. A White Paper by the IAU Planetary Nebula Working Group

We present a summary of current research on planetary nebulae and their central stars, and related subjects such as atomic processes in ionized nebulae, AGB and post-AGB evolution. Future advances are discussed that will be essential to substantial improvements in our knowledge in the field.Comment: accepted for publication in RMxAA; 37 page

Hydrodynamic excitations of trapped dipolar fermions

A single-component Fermi gas of polarized dipolar particles in a harmonic trap can undergo a mechanical collapse due to the attractive part of the dipole-dipole interaction. This phenomenon can be conveniently manipulated by the shape of the external trapping potential. We investigate the signatures of the instability by studying the spectrum of low-lying collective excitations of the system in the hydrodynamic regime. To this end, we employ a time-dependent variational method as well as exact numerical solutions of the hydrodynamic equations of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, final versio