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arXiv:0903.5343 · Physical Review A

Repulsive Fermi gas in a harmonic trap: Ferromagnetism and spin textures

Lindsay J. LeBlanc, Joseph H. Thywissen, A. A. Burkov, Arun Paramekanti

Published Jul 13, 2009• 68 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study ferromagnetism in a repulsively interacting two-component Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. Within a local density approximation, the two components phase separate beyond a critical interaction strength, with one species having a higher density at the trap center. We discuss several easily observable experimental signatures of this transition. The mean-field release energy, its separate kinetic and interaction contributions, as well as the potential energy all depend on the interaction strength and contain a sharp signature of this transition. In addition, the conversion rate of atoms to molecules, arising from three-body collisions, peaks at an interaction strength just beyond the ferromagnetic transition point. We then go beyond the local density approximation and derive an energy functional that includes a term that depends on the local magnetization gradient and acts as a ``surface tension.'' Using this energy functional, we numerically study the energetics of some candidate spin textures that may be stabilized in a harmonic trapping potential at zero net magnetization. We find that a hedgehog state has a lower energy than an ``in-out'' domain-wall state in an isotropic trap. Upon inclusion of trap anisotropy we find that the hedgehog magnetization profile gets distorted due to the surface tension term, this distortion being more apparent for small atom numbers. We estimate that the magnetic dipole interaction does not play a significant role in this system. We consider possible implications for experiments on trapped $^{6}\text{L}\text{i}$ and $^{40}\text{K}$ gases.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.80.013607

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We study ferromagnetism in a repulsively interacting two-component Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. Within a local density approximation, the two components phase separate beyond a critical interaction strength, with one species having a higher density at the trap center. We discuss several easily observable experimental signatures of this transition. The mean-field release energy, its separate kinetic and interaction contributions, as well as the potential energy all depend on the interaction strength and contain a sharp signature of this transition. In addition, the conversion rate of atoms to molecules, arising from three-body collisions, peaks at an interaction strength just beyond the ferromagnetic transition point. We then go beyond the local density approximation and derive an energy functional that includes a term that depends on the local magnetization gradient and acts as a surface tension.'' Using this energy functional, we numerically study the energetics of some candidate spin textures that may be stabilized in a harmonic trapping potential at zero net magnetization. We find that a hedgehog state has a lower energy than an in-out'' domain-wall state in an isotropic trap. Upon inclusion of trap anisotropy we find that the hedgehog magnetization profile gets distorted due to the surface tension term, this distortion being more apparent for small atom numbers. We estimate that the magnetic dipole interaction does not play a significant role in this system. We consider possible implications for experiments on trapped 6Li^{6}\text{L}\text{i}6Li and 40K^{40}\text{K}40K gases.
We predict the phase separations of two-dimensional Fermi gases with repulsive contact-type interactions between two spin components. Using density-potential functional theory with systematic semiclassical approximations, we address the long-standing problem of itinerant ferromagnetism in realistic settings. We reveal a universal transition from the paramagnetic state at small repulsive interactions toward ferromagnetic density profiles at large interaction strengths, with intricate particle-number dependent phases in between. Building on quantum Monte Carlo results for uniform systems, we benchmark our simulations against Hartree–Fock calculations for a small number of trapped fermions. We thereby demonstrate that our employed corrections to the bare contact interaction energy and especially to the Thomas–Fermi kinetic energy functional are necessary for reliably predicting properties of trapped mesoscopic Fermi gases. The density patterns of the ground state survive at low finite temperatures and confirm the Stoner-type polarization behavior across a universal interaction parameter, albeit with substantial quantitative differences that originate in the trapping potential and the quantum-corrected kinetic energy. We also uncover a plethora of metastable configurations that are energetically comparable to the ground-state density profiles and are thus likely to be observed in experiments. We argue that our density-functional approach can be easily applied to interacting multi-component Fermi gases in general.
The component separation of the trapped large-spin Fermi gas is studied within density functional theory. The ground state and ferromagnetic transition in the gas, with and without the spin mixing collision, are calculated. In the absence of spin mixing, two patterns of separation are observed as the interaction between atoms increases, whereas only one of them corresponds to a ferromagnetic transition. The phase diagram suggests that the pattern which the system chooses depends on the interaction strength in the collision channels. With the presence of spin mixing, the distribution of phase region changes because of the interplay between different collision channels. Specifically, the spin exchange benefits the FM transition, while it suppresses the component separation of CS-II pattern.
We present a theoretical analysis of phase separations between two repulsively interacting components in an ultracold fermionic gas, occurring at the dimensional crossover in a harmonic trap with varying aspect ratios. A tailored kinetic energy functional is derived and combined with a density-potential functional approach to develop a framework that is benchmarked with the orbital-based method. We investigate the changes in the density profile of the phase-separated gas under different interaction strengths and geometries. The analysis reveals the existence of small, partially polarized domains in certain parameter regimes, which is similar to the purely two-dimensional limit. However, the density profile is further enriched by a shell structure found in anisotropic traps. We also track the transitions that can be driven by a change in either interaction strength or trap geometry. The developed framework is noted to have applications for other systems with repulsive interactions that combine continuous and discrete degrees of freedom.
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Abstract Spontaneous ferromagnetic transition in trapped Fermi gas is studied in the presence of a higher partial-wave interaction. At the mean-field level, the ground-state energy contribution from an arbitrary partial wave is derived, with which the equilibrium density profile of each spin component can be calculated. Our results show that, in the spin- 1 2 Fermi gas, the individual repulsive d -wave interaction can induce ferromagnetic transition; while the individual repulsive or attractive p - and f -wave interactions fail. In addition, the higher partial waves can have a remarkable influence on the ferromagnetic phase induced by the s -wave interaction. The repulsive d -wave interaction and attractive p - or f -wave interactions lower the s -wave Stoner point and critical particle number, while the attractive d -wave interaction and repulsive p - or f -wave interactions increase them. In addition, our results also show that both repulsive d -wave interaction and attractive p - or f -wave interactions can enhance the ferromagnetic state induced by s -wave interaction.
We theoretically investigate the itinerant ferromagnetic transition of a spherically trapped ultracold Fermi gas with spin imbalance under strongly repulsive interatomic interactions. Our study is based on a self-consistent solution of the Hartree-Fock mean-field equations beyond the widely used local-density approximation. We demonstrate that, while the local-density approximation holds in the paramagnetic phase, after the ferromagnetic transition it leads to a quantitative discrepancy in various thermodynamic quantities even with large atom numbers. We determine the position of the phase transition by monitoring the shape change of the free-energy curve with increasing the polarization at various interaction strengths.