Pseudogap and preformed pairs in the imbalanced Fermi gas in two dimensions

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.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Variational path-integral treatment of a translation invariant many-polaron system

A translation invariant N-polaron system is investigated at arbitrary electron-phonon coupling strength, using a variational principle for path integrals for identical particles. An upper bound for the ground state energy is found as a function of the number of spin up and spin down polarons, taking the electron-electron interaction and the Fermi statistics into account. The resulting addition energies and the criteria for multipolaron formation are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Soliton core filling in superfluid Fermi gases with spin-imbalance

In this paper the properties of dark solitons in superfluid Fermi gases with spin-imbalance are studied by means of a recently developed effective field theory [S. N. Klimin, J. Tempere, G. Lombardi, J. T. Devreese, Eur. Phys. J. B 88, 122 (2015)] suitable to describe the BEC-BCS crossover in ultracold gases in an extended range of temperatures as compared to the usual Ginzburg-Landau treatments. The spatial profiles for the total density and for the density of the excess-spin component, and the changes of their properties across the BEC-BCS crossover are examined in different conditions of temperature and imbalance. The presence of population imbalance is shown to strongly affect the structure of the soliton excitation by filling its core with unpaired atoms. This in turn influences the dynamical properties of the soliton since the additional particles in the core have to be dragged along thus altering the effective mass.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Finite-temperature Wigner solid and other phases of ripplonic polarons on a helium film

Electrons on liquid helium can form different phases depending on density, and temperature. Also the electron-ripplon coupling strength influences the phase diagram, through the formation of so-called "ripplonic polarons", that change how electrons are localized, and that shifts the transition between the Wigner solid and the liquid phase. We use an all-coupling, finite-temperature variational method to study the formation of a ripplopolaron Wigner solid on a liquid helium film for different regimes of the electron-ripplon coupling strength. In addition to the three known phases of the ripplopolaron system (electron Wigner solid, polaron Wigner solid, and electron fluid), we define and identify a fourth distinct phase, the ripplopolaron liquid. We analyse the transitions between these four phases and calculate the corresponding phase diagrams. This reveals a reentrant melting of the electron solid as a function of temperature. The calculated regions of existence of the Wigner solid are in agreement with recent experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1012.4576, arXiv:0709.4140 by other author