arXiv:1109.4364 · Physical Review A
Expansion velocity of a one-dimensional, two-component Fermi gas during the sudden expansion in the ballistic regime
S. Langer, Martin J. A. Schuetz, Ian P. McCulloch, Ulrich Schollwöck, Fabian Heidrich‐Meisner
Abstract
We show that in the sudden expansion of a spin-balanced, two-component Fermi gas into an empty optical lattice induced by releasing particles from a trap, over a wide parameter regime, the radius ${R}_{n}$ of the particle cloud grows linearly in time. This allow us to define the expansion velocity ${V}_{\mathrm{ex}}$ from ${R}_{n}={V}_{\mathrm{ex}}t$. The goal of this work is to clarify the dependence of the expansion velocity on the initial conditions which we establish from time-dependent density matrix renormalization group simulations, both for a box trap and a harmonic trap. As a prominent result, the presence of a Mott-insulating region leaves clear fingerprints in the expansion velocity. Our predictions can be verified in experiments with ultracold atoms.