Sound propagation in elongated superfluid fermion clouds

We use hydrodynamic equations to study sound propagation in a superfluid Fermi gas inside a strongly elongated cigar-shaped trap, with main attention to the transition from the BCS to the unitary regime. We treat first the role of the radial density profile in the quasi-onedimensional limit and then evaluate numerically the effect of the axial confinement in a configuration in which a hole is present in the gas density at the center of the trap. We find that in a strongly elongated trap the speed of sound in both the BCS and the unitary regime differs by a factor sqrt{3/5} from that in a homogeneous three-dimensional superfluid. The predictions of the theory could be tested by measurements of sound-wave propagation in a set-up such as that exploited by M.R. Andrews et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 553 (1997)] for an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

On the origin of the helium-rich population in the peculiar globular cluster Omega Centauri

In this contribution we discuss the origin of the extreme helium-rich stars which inhabit the blue main sequence (bMS) of the Galactic globular cluster Omega Centauri. In a scenario where the cluster is the surviving remnant of a dwarf galaxy ingested by the Milky Way many Gyr ago, the peculiar chemical composition of the bMS stars can be naturally explained by considering the effects of strong differential galactic winds, which develop owing to multiple supernova explosions in a shallow potential well.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 268, Light Elements in the Universe (C. Charbonnel, M. Tosi, F. Primas, C. Chiappini, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press

Boson-fermion mixtures inside an elongated cigar-shaped trap

We present mean-field calculations of the equilibrium state in a gaseous mixture of bosonic and spin-polarized fermionic atoms with repulsive or attractive interspecies interactions, confined inside a cigar-shaped trap under conditions such that the radial thickness of the two atomic clouds is approaching the magnitude of the s-wave scattering lengths. In this regime the kinetic pressure of the fermionic component is dominant. Full demixing under repulsive boson-fermion interactions can occur only when the number of fermions in the trap is below a threshold, and collapse under attractive interactions is suppressed within the range of validity of the mean-field model. Specific numerical illustrations are given for values of system parameters obtaining in 7Li-6Li clouds.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Chemical abundances and properties of the ionized gas in NGC 1705

We obtained [O III] narrow-band imaging and multi-slit MXU spectroscopy of the blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy NGC 1705 with FORS2@VLT to derive chemical abundances of PNe and H II regions and, more in general, to characterize the properties of the ionized gas. The auroral [O III]\lambda4363 line was detected in all but one of the eleven analyzed regions, allowing for a direct estimate of their electron temperature. The only object for which the [O III]\lambda4363 line was not detected is a possible low-ionization PN, the only one detected in our data. For all the other regions, we derived the abundances of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Neon, Sulfur and Argon out to ~ 1 kpc from the galaxy center. We detect for the first time in NGC 1705 a negative radial gradient in the oxygen metallicity of -0.24 \pm 0.08 dex kpc^{-1}. The element abundances are all consistent with values reported in the literature for other samples of dwarf irregular and blue compact dwarf galaxies. However, the average (central) oxygen abundance, 12 + log(O/H)=7.96 \pm 0.04, is ~0.26 dex lower than previous literature estimates for NGC 1705 based on the [O III]\lambda4363 line. From classical emission-line diagnostic diagrams, we exclude a major contribution from shock excitation. On the other hand, the radial behavior of the emission line ratios is consistent with the progressive dilution of radiation with increasing distance from the center of NGC 1705. This suggests that the strongest starburst located within the central $\sim$150 pc is responsible for the ionization of the gas out to at least $\sim$1 kpc. The gradual dilution of the radiation with increasing distance from the center reflects the gradual and continuous transition from the highly ionized H II regions in the proximity of the major starburst into the diffuse ionized gas.Comment: Accepted for publication on A

Comment on ``Sound velocity and multibranch Bogoliubov spectrum of an elongated Fermi superfluid in the BEC-BCS crossover"

The work by T. K. Ghosh and K. Machida [cond-mat/0510160 and Phys. Rev. A 73, 013613 (2006)] on the sound velocity in a cylindrically confined Fermi superfluid obeying a power-law equation of state is shown to make use of an improper projection of the sound wave equation. This inaccuracy fully accounts for the difference between their results and those previously reported by Capuzzi et al. [cond-mat/0509323 and Phys. Rev. A 73, 021603(R) (2006)]. In this Comment we show that both approaches lead exactly to the same result when the correct weight function is used in the projection. Plots of the correct behavior of the phonon and monopole-mode spectra in the BCS, unitary, and BEC limits are also shown.Comment: Comment on cond-mat/051016

Transition to hydrodynamics in colliding fermion clouds

We study the transition from the collisionless to the hydrodynamic regime in a two-component spin-polarized mixture of 40K atoms by exciting its dipolar oscillation modes inside harmonic traps. The time evolution of the mixture is described by the Vlasov-Landau equations and numerically solved with a fully three-dimensional concurrent code. We observe a master/slave behaviour of the oscillation frequencies depending on the dipolar mode that is excited. Regardless of the initial conditions, the transition to hydrodynamics is found to shift to lower values of the collision rate as temperature decreases.Comment: 11 pages, iop style. submitted to the proceedings of the Levico 2003 worksho