Comment on ``Phase and Phase Diffusion of a Split Bose-Einstein Condensate''

Recently Javanainen and Wilkens [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 4675 (1997)] have analysed an experiment in which an interacting Bose condensate, after being allowed to form in a single potential well, is "cut" by splitting the well adiabatically with a very high potential barrier, and estimate the rate at which, following the cut, the two halves of the condensate lose the "memory" of their relative phase. We argue that, by neglecting the effect of interactions in the initial state before the separation, they have overestimated the rate of phase randomization by a numerical factor which grows with the interaction strength and with the slowness of the separation process.Comment: 2 pages, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Zero Temperature Thermodynamics of Asymmetric Fermi Gases at Unitarity

The equation of state of a dilute two-component asymmetric Fermi gas at unitarity is subject to strong constraints, which affect the spatial density profiles in atomic traps. These constraints require the existence of at least one non-trivial partially polarized (asymmetric) phase. We determine the relation between the structure of the spatial density profiles and the T=0 equation of state, based on the most accurate theoretical predictions available. We also show how the equation of state can be determined from experimental observations.Comment: 10 pages and 7 figures. (Minor changes to correspond with published version.

On Koopman-von Neumann Waves II

In this paper we continue the study, started in [1], of the operatorial formulation of classical mechanics given by Koopman and von Neumann (KvN) in the Thirties. In particular we show that the introduction of the KvN Hilbert space of complex and square integrable "wave functions" requires an enlargement of the set of the observables of ordinary classical mechanics. The possible role and the meaning of these extra observables is briefly indicated in this work. We also analyze the similarities and differences between non selective measurements and two-slit experiments in classical and quantum mechanics.Comment: 18+1 pages, 1 figure, misprints fixe

Stable Sarma State in Two-band Fermi Systems

We investigate fermionic superconductivity with mismatched Fermi surfaces in a general two-band system. The exchange interaction between the two bands changes significantly the stability structure of the pairing states. The Sarma state with two gapless Fermi surfaces which is always unstable in single-band systems, can be the stable ground state in two-band systems. To realize a visible mismatch window for the stable Sarma state, two conditions should be satisfied: a nonzero inter-band exchange interaction and a large asymmetry between the two bands.Comment: V3: Version published in Physical Review

Phase diagram of a polarized Fermi gas across a Feshbach resonance in a potential trap

We map out the detailed phase diagram of a trapped ultracold Fermi gas with population imbalance across a wide Feshbach resonance. We show that under the local density approximation, the properties of the atoms in any (anisotropic) harmonic traps are universally characterized by three dimensionless parameters: the normalized temperature, the dimensionless interaction strength, and the population imbalance. We then discuss the possible quantum phases in the trap, and quantitatively characterize their phase boundaries in various typical parameter regions.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Profiles of near-resonant population-imbalanced trapped Fermi gases

We investigate the density profiles of a partially polarized trapped Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover region using mean field theory within the local density approximation. Within this approximation the gas is phase separated into concentric shells. We describe how the structure of these shells depends upon the polarization and the interaction strength. A Comparison with experiments yields insight into the possibility of a polarized superfluid phase.Comment: 4 pages, 5 Figures, Published versio

Cooper pairing and BCS-BEC evolution in mixed-dimensional Fermi gases

Similar to what has recently been achieved with Bose-Bose mixtures [Lamporesi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 153202 (2010)], mixed-dimensional Fermi-Fermi mixtures can be created by applying a species-selective one-dimensional optical lattice to a two-species Fermi gas ($\sigma \equiv \{\uparrow, \downarrow \}$), such a way that only one of the species feel the lattice potential and is confined to a quasi-two-dimensional geometry, while having negligible effect on the other, that is leaving it three dimensional. We investigate the ground state phase diagram of superfluidity for such mixtures in the BCS-BEC evolution, and find normal, gapped superfluid, gapless superfluid, and phase separated regions. In particular, we find a stable gapless superfluid phase where the unpaired $\uparrow$ and $\downarrow$ fermions coexist with the paired (or superfluid) ones in different momentum space regions. This phase is in some ways similar to the Sarma state found in mixtures with unequal densities, but in our case, the gapless superfluid phase is unpolarized and most importantly it is stable against phase separation.Comment: 8 pages with 4 figure

Pairing in Asymmetrical Fermi Systems with Intra- and Inter-Species Correlations

We consider inter- and intra-species pairing interactions in an asymmetrical Fermi system. Using equation of motion method, we obtain coupled mean-field equations for superfluid gap functions and population densities. We construct a phase diagram across BCS-BEC regimes. Due to intra-species correlations, the BCS singlet superfluid state can sustain finite polarizations, $P$. For larger $P$, we find phase separations in BCS and BEC regimes. A superfluid phase exists for all $P$ deep in BEC regime. Our results may apply to pairing in ultracold fermions, nuclear and quark matter physics.Comment: Contents revised. Added reference

Quantitative Probe of Pairing Correlations in a Cold Fermionic Atom Gas

A quantitative measure of the pairing correlations present in a cold gas of fermionic atoms can be obtained by studying the dependence of RF spectra on hyperfine state populations. This proposal follows from a sum rule that relates the total interaction energy of the gas to RF spectrum line positions. We argue that this indicator of pairing correlations provides information comparable to that available from the spin-susceptibility and NMR measurements common in condensed-matter systems.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Stability of the Breached Pair State for a Two-species Fermionic System in the Presence of Feshbach Resonance

We investigate the phenomenon of fermionic pairing with mismatched Fermi surfaces in a two-species system in the presence of Feshbach resonance, where the resonantly-paired fermions combine to form bosonic molecules. We observe that the Feshbach parameters control the critical temperature of the gapped BCS superfluid state, and also determine the range over which a gapless breached pair state may exist. Demanding the positivity of the superfluid density, it is shown that although a breached pair state with two Fermi surfaces is always unstable, its single Fermi-surface counterpart can be stable if the chemical potentials of the two pairing species have opposite signs. This condition is satisfied only over a narrow region in the BEC side, characterized by an upper and a lower limit for the magnetic field. We estimate these limits for a mixture of two hyperfine states of $^6$Li using recent experimental data.Comment: 14 pages,5 figure