arXiv:1112.4257 · Physical Review A
d -wave superfluid with gapless edges in a cold-atom trap
Anne-Louise Gadsbølle, Hao Song, Karyn Le Hur
Abstract
We consider a strongly repulsive fermionic gas in a two-dimensional optical lattice confined by a harmonic trapping potential. To address the strongly repulsive regime, we consider the $t\ensuremath{-}J$ Hamiltonian. The presence of the harmonic trapping potential enables the stabilization of coexisting and competing phases. In particular, at low temperatures, this allows the realization of a $d$-wave superfluid region surrounded by purely (gapless) normal edges. Solving the Bogoliubov--de Gennes equations and comparing them with the local density approximation, we show that the proximity to the Mott insulator is revealed by a downturn of the Fermi liquid order parameter at the center of the trap where the $d$-wave gap has a maximum. The density profile evolves linearly with distance.