We investigate strong-coupling corrections to single-particle excitations in the normal state of a spin-polarized unitary Fermi gas. Within the framework of an extended $T$-matrix approximation, we calculate the single-particle density of states, as well as the single-particle spectral weight, to show that the so-called pseudogap phenomenon gradually disappears with increasing magnitude of an effective magnetic field. In the highly spin-polarized regime, the calculated spin polarization as a function of the effective magnetic field agrees well with the recent experiment on a ${}^{6}$Li Fermi gas. Although this experiment has been considered to be incompatible with the existence of the pseudogap in an unpolarized Fermi gas, our result clarifies that the observed spin polarization in the highly spin-polarized regime and the pseudogap in the unpolarized limit can be explained in a consistent manner when one correctly includes effects of population imbalance on single-particle excitations. Since it is a crucial issue to clarify whether the pseudogap exists or not in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas, our results would be useful for the understanding of this strongly interacting fermion system.
We investigate strong-coupling corrections to single-particle excitations in the normal state of a spin-polarized unitary Fermi gas. Within the framework of an extended T-matrix approximation, we calculate the single-particle density of states, as well as the single-particle spectral weight, to show that the so-called pseudogap phenomenon gradually disappears with increasing magnitude of an effective magnetic field. In the highly spin-polarized regime, the calculated spin polarization as a function of the effective magnetic field agrees well with the recent experiment on a 6Li Fermi gas. Although this experiment has been considered to be incompatible with the existence of the pseudogap in an unpolarized Fermi gas, our result clarifies that the observed spin polarization in the highly spin-polarized regime and the pseudogap in the unpolarized limit can be explained in a consistent manner when one correctly includes effects of population imbalance on single-particle excitations. Since it is a crucial issue to clarify whether the pseudogap exists or not in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas, our results would be useful for the understanding of this strongly interacting fermion system.
We investigate single-particle excitations and strong-coupling effects in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a superfluid Fermi gas. Including phase and amplitude fluctuations of the superfluid order parameter within a T-matrix theory, we calculate the superfluid density of states (DOS), as well as single-particle spectral weight, over the entire BCS-BEC crossover region below the superfluid transition temperature Tc. We clarify how the pseudogap in the normal state evolves into the superfluid gap, as one passes through Tc. While the pseudogap in DOS continuously evolves into the superfluid gap in the weak-coupling BCS regime, the superfluid gap in the crossover region is shown to appear in DOS after the pseudogap disappears below Tc. In the phase diagram with respect to the temperature and interaction strength, we determine the region where strong pairing fluctuations dominate over single-particle properties of the system. Our results would be useful for the study of strong-coupling phenomena in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a superfluid Fermi gas.
We investigate single-particle properties of a mass-imbalanced Fermi gas in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)--BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover region. In the presence of mass imbalance, we point out that the ordinary T-matrix approximation, which has been extensively used to clarify various BCS-BEC crossover physics in the mass-balanced case, unphysically gives a double-valued solution in terms of the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc in the crossover region. To overcome this serious problem, we include higher order strong-coupling corrections beyond the T-matrix level. Using this extended T-matrix theory, we calculate single-particle excitations in the normal state above Tc. The so-called pseudogap phenomena originating from pairing fluctuations are shown to be different between the light-mass component and heavy-mass component, which becomes more remarkable at higher temperatures. Since Fermi condensates with hetero-Cooper pairs have recently been discussed in various fields, such as exciton (polariton) condensates as well as color superconductivity, our results would be useful for the further development of Fermi superfluid physics, beyond the conventional superfluid state with homo-Cooper pairs.
We investigate strong-coupling effects on normal-state properties of an ultracold Fermi gas. Within the framework of T-matrix approximation in terms of pairing fluctuations, we calculate the single-particle density of states (DOS), as well as the spectral weight, over the entire BCS--Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) crossover region above the superfluid phase-transition temperature Tc. Starting from the weak-coupling BCS regime, we show that the so-called pseudogap develops in DOS above Tc, which becomes remarkable in the crossover region. The pseudogap structure continuously changes into a fully gapped one in the strong-coupling BEC regime, where the gap energy is directly related to the binding energy of tightly bound molecules. We determine the pseudogap temperature ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ where the dip structure in DOS vanishes. The value of ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ is shown to be very different from another characteristic temperature ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ where a BCS-type double-peak structure disappears in the spectral weight. While one finds ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}>{T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ in the BCS regime, ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ becomes higher than ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ in the crossover region and BEC regime. Including this, we determine the pseudogap region in the phase diagram of ultracold Fermi gases. Our results would be useful in the search for the pseudogap region in ultracold 6Li and 40K Fermi gases.
We investigate magnetic properties and effects of pairing fluctuations in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer--Bose-Einstein condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas. Recently, Liu and Hu [Europhys. Lett. 75, 364 (2006)], and Parish et al. [Nat. Phys. 3, 124 (2007)], pointed out that the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink (NSR), which has been extensively used to successfully clarify various physical properties of cold Fermi gases, unphysically gives negative spin susceptibility in the BCS-BEC crossover region. The same problem also exists in the ordinary non-self-consistent T-matrix approximation. In this paper, we clarify that this serious problem comes from incomplete treatment in term of pseudogap phenomena originating from strong pairing fluctuations, as well as effects of spin fluctuations on the spin susceptibility. Including these two key issues, we construct an extended T-matrix theory which can overcome this problem. The resulting positive spin susceptibility agrees well with the recent experiment on a 6Li Fermi gas done by Sanner et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 010402 (2011)]. We also apply our theory to a polarized Fermi gas to examine the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc, as a function of the polarization rate. Since the spin susceptibility is an important physical quantity, especially in singlet Fermi superfluids, our results would be useful in considering how singlet pairs appear above and below Tc in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of cold Fermi gases.
We investigate strong-coupling properties of a unitary Fermi gas consisting of two different species with different masses. Including pairing fluctuations within the self-consistent T -matrix approximation, we calculate the single-particle density of states in the normal state. We show that the pseudogap phenomenon, which is characterized by a dip structure in the density of states around ω = 0, appears more remarkably in the light mass component than in the heavy mass component. As a result, the pseudogap temperature, which is determined as the temperature at which the pseudogap disappears in the density of states, is higher in the former than in the latter. We also find that this different pseudogap temperatures lead to the existence of two kinds of pseudogap regions. That is, one is the ordinary pseudogap regime where the pseudogap appears in both the component, and the other case is that the light mass component only exhibits the pseudogap phenomenon. As the origin of these component- dependent pseudogap phenomena, we point out the importance of different Fermi temperatures between the two components. Since the formation of hetero-Cooper pairs and their condensation are expected in various systems, such as a 6 Li- 40 K Fermi gas mixture, an exciton (polariton) gas, as well as color superconductivity, our results would be useful for the understanding of strong-coupling properties of these novel Fermi condensates.
We theoretically investigate the uniform spin susceptibility $\ensuremath{\chi}$ in the superfluid phase of an ultracold Fermi gas in the region of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer--Bose-Einstein-condensate (BCS-BEC) crossover. In our previous paper [H. Tajima et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 033617 (2014)], including pairing fluctuations within an extended T-matrix approximation (ETMA), we showed that strong pairing fluctuations cause the so-called spin-gap phenomenon, where $\ensuremath{\chi}$ is anomalously suppressed even in the normal state near the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc. In this paper, we extend this work to the superfluid phase below Tc, to clarify how this many-body phenomenon is affected by the superfluid order. From the comparison of the ETMA $\ensuremath{\chi}$ with the Yosida function describing the spin susceptibility in a weak-coupling BCS superfluid, we identify the region where pairing fluctuations crucially affect this magnetic quantity below Tc in the phase diagram with respect to the strength of a pairing interaction and the temperature. This spin-gap regime is found to be consistent with the previous pseudogap regime determined from the pseudogapped density of states. We also compare our results with a recent experiment on a 6Li Fermi gas. Since the spin susceptibility is sensitive to the formation of spin-singlet preformed pairs, our results would be useful for the study of pseudogap physics in an ultracold Fermi gas on the viewpoint of the spin degrees of freedom.