Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1405.1537 · Physical Review Letters

Anisotropic Relaxation Dynamics in a Dipolar Fermi Gas Driven Out of Equilibrium

K. Aikawa, Albert Frisch, Manfred J. Mark, Simon Baier, Rudolf Grimm, John L. Bohn, D. S. Jin, Georg M. Bruun, Francesca Ferlaino

Published Dec 23, 2014• 36 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on the observation of a large anisotropy in the rethermalization dynamics of an ultracold dipolar Fermi gas driven out of equilibrium. Our system consists of an ultracold sample of strongly magnetic 167Er fermions, spin polarized in the lowest Zeeman sublevel. In this system, elastic collisions arise purely from universal dipolar scattering. Based on cross-dimensional rethermalization experiments, we observe a strong anisotropy of the scattering, which manifests itself in a large angular dependence of the thermal relaxation dynamics. Our result is in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions. Furthermore, we measure the rethermalization rate as a function of temperature for different angles and find that the suppression of collisions by Pauli blocking is not influenced by the dipole orientation.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.113.263201

Related papers

Anisotropic thermalization of dilute dipolar gases

Reuben R. W. Wang, John L. Bohn

We study collisional rethermalization in ultracold dipolar thermal gases, made intricate by their anisotropic differential cross sections. Theoretical methods are provided to derive the number of collisions per rethermalization [Monroe et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 414 (1993)], which, for dipolar gases, is highly dependent on the dipole alignment axis. These methods are formulated to be easily applied in experimental contexts, even reducing to analytic expressions if the route to thermal equilibrium is governed by short-time dynamics. In the analytic case, collisional rethermalization is fully characterized by the dipole magnitude and orientation, scattering length, and thermalization geometry. These models compare favorably to Monte Carlo simulations and are shown to model well a recent experimental result on the rethermalization of polar molecular samples.

arXiv:2104.00724•Physical Review A•Jun 25, 2021•18 citations

Nonequilibrium dynamics of an ultracold dipolar gas

A. G. Sykes, John L. Bohn

We study the relaxation and damping dynamics of an ultracold, but not quantum degenerate, gas consisting of dipolar particles. These simulations are performed using a direct simulation Monte Carlo method and employing the highly anisotropic differential cross section of dipoles in the Wigner threshold regime. We find that both cross-dimensional relaxation and damping of breathing modes occur at rates that are strongly dependent on the orientation of the dipole moments relative to the trap axis. The relaxation simulations are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results in erbium. The results direct our interest toward a less explored regime in dipolar gases where interactions are dominated by collision processes rather than mean-field interactions.

arXiv:1502.00960•Physical Review A•Jan 23, 2015•18 citations

Reaching Fermi Degeneracy via Universal Dipolar Scattering

K. Aikawa, Albert Frisch, Manfred J. Mark +3 more

We report on the creation of a degenerate dipolar Fermi gas of erbium atoms. We force evaporative cooling in a fully spin-polarized sample down to temperatures as low as 0.2 times the Fermi temperature. The strong magnetic dipole-dipole interaction enables elastic collisions between identical fermions even in the zero-energy limit. The measured elastic scattering cross section agrees well with the predictions from the dipolar scattering theory, which follow a universal scaling law depending only on the dipole moment and on the atomic mass. Our approach to quantum degeneracy proceeds with very high cooling efficiency and provides large atomic densities, and it may be extended to various dipolar systems.

arXiv:1310.5676•Physical Review Letters•Jan 6, 2014•199 citations

Differential scattering and rethermalization in ultracold dipolar gases

John L. Bohn, Deborah Jin

Analytic expressions for the differential cross sections of ultracold atoms and molecules that scatter primarily due to dipolar interactions are derived within the first-order Born approximation and are shown to agree with the partial wave expansion. These cross sections are applied to the problem of cross-dimensional rethermalization. Strikingly, the rate of rethermalization can vary by as much as a factor of 2, depending on the orientation of the dipoles. Thus the anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction can have a significant effect even on the behavior of a nondegenerate ultracold gas.

arXiv:1312.2893•Physical Review A•Feb 5, 2014•37 citations

Universal Threshold Laws for Dipolar Evaporation of Molecular Fermi Gases

Kevin B. Xu, John L. Bohn, Reuben R. W. Wang

Fermi statistics suppress the elastic collisions that rethermalize a Fermi gas during evaporative cooling, creating a fundamental low-temperature bottleneck for producing quantum degenerate gases. We show that, for shielded single-component ultracold dipolar molecular Fermi gases in the Wigner threshold regime, this bottleneck is governed by universal threshold laws fixed by the effective dimensionality of the gas. In this regime, Fermi suppression of rethermalization scales quadratically with temperature in 3D but only linearly in 2D. Consequently, the thermalization-to-loss ratio is more favorable in 2D than in 3D, and these results suggest that 2D geometries are better suited for reaching deep degeneracy. We also present ab initio close-coupling calculations that agree well with experimental measurements on Fermi degenerate gases of KRb molecules, supporting our conclusions.

cond-mat.quant-gasCross-listedarXiv:2610.22639•Oct 19, 2026•0 citations

Viscous dynamics of a quenched trapped dipolar Fermi gas

Reuben R. W. Wang, John L. Bohn

We consider collective motion and damping of dipolar Fermi gases in the hydrodynamic regime. We investigate the trajectories of collective oscillations---here dubbed ``weltering'' motions---in cross-dimensional rethermalization experiments via Monte Carlo simulations, where we find stark differences from the dilute regime. These observations are interpreted within a semiempirical theory of viscous hydrodynamics for gases confined to anisotropic harmonic potentials. The derived equations of motion provide a simple effective theory that show favorable agreement with full numerical solutions. To do so, the theory must carefully account for the size and shape of the effective volume within which the gas's behavior is hydrodynamic. Although formulated for close-to-threshold dipolar collisions, our theoretical framework can be repurposed for other elastic cross sections in future studies.

Physical Review A•Jul 31, 2023•7 citations
We report on the observation of a large anisotropy in the rethermalization dynamics of an ultracold dipolar Fermi gas driven out of equilibrium. Our system consists of an ultracold sample of strongly magnetic 167Er fermions, spin polarized in the lowest Zeeman sublevel. In this system, elastic collisions arise purely from universal dipolar scattering. Based on cross-dimensional rethermalization experiments, we observe a strong anisotropy of the scattering, which manifests itself in a large angular dependence of the thermal relaxation dynamics. Our result is in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions. Furthermore, we measure the rethermalization rate as a function of temperature for different angles and find that the suppression of collisions by Pauli blocking is not influenced by the dipole orientation.
We study collisional rethermalization in ultracold dipolar thermal gases, made intricate by their anisotropic differential cross sections. Theoretical methods are provided to derive the number of collisions per rethermalization [Monroe et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 414 (1993)], which, for dipolar gases, is highly dependent on the dipole alignment axis. These methods are formulated to be easily applied in experimental contexts, even reducing to analytic expressions if the route to thermal equilibrium is governed by short-time dynamics. In the analytic case, collisional rethermalization is fully characterized by the dipole magnitude and orientation, scattering length, and thermalization geometry. These models compare favorably to Monte Carlo simulations and are shown to model well a recent experimental result on the rethermalization of polar molecular samples.
We study the relaxation and damping dynamics of an ultracold, but not quantum degenerate, gas consisting of dipolar particles. These simulations are performed using a direct simulation Monte Carlo method and employing the highly anisotropic differential cross section of dipoles in the Wigner threshold regime. We find that both cross-dimensional relaxation and damping of breathing modes occur at rates that are strongly dependent on the orientation of the dipole moments relative to the trap axis. The relaxation simulations are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results in erbium. The results direct our interest toward a less explored regime in dipolar gases where interactions are dominated by collision processes rather than mean-field interactions.
We report on the creation of a degenerate dipolar Fermi gas of erbium atoms. We force evaporative cooling in a fully spin-polarized sample down to temperatures as low as 0.2 times the Fermi temperature. The strong magnetic dipole-dipole interaction enables elastic collisions between identical fermions even in the zero-energy limit. The measured elastic scattering cross section agrees well with the predictions from the dipolar scattering theory, which follow a universal scaling law depending only on the dipole moment and on the atomic mass. Our approach to quantum degeneracy proceeds with very high cooling efficiency and provides large atomic densities, and it may be extended to various dipolar systems.
Analytic expressions for the differential cross sections of ultracold atoms and molecules that scatter primarily due to dipolar interactions are derived within the first-order Born approximation and are shown to agree with the partial wave expansion. These cross sections are applied to the problem of cross-dimensional rethermalization. Strikingly, the rate of rethermalization can vary by as much as a factor of 2, depending on the orientation of the dipoles. Thus the anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction can have a significant effect even on the behavior of a nondegenerate ultracold gas.
Fermi statistics suppress the elastic collisions that rethermalize a Fermi gas during evaporative cooling, creating a fundamental low-temperature bottleneck for producing quantum degenerate gases. We show that, for shielded single-component ultracold dipolar molecular Fermi gases in the Wigner threshold regime, this bottleneck is governed by universal threshold laws fixed by the effective dimensionality of the gas. In this regime, Fermi suppression of rethermalization scales quadratically with temperature in 3D but only linearly in 2D. Consequently, the thermalization-to-loss ratio is more favorable in 2D than in 3D, and these results suggest that 2D geometries are better suited for reaching deep degeneracy. We also present ab initio close-coupling calculations that agree well with experimental measurements on Fermi degenerate gases of KRb molecules, supporting our conclusions.
We consider collective motion and damping of dipolar Fermi gases in the hydrodynamic regime. We investigate the trajectories of collective oscillations---here dubbed ``weltering'' motions---in cross-dimensional rethermalization experiments via Monte Carlo simulations, where we find stark differences from the dilute regime. These observations are interpreted within a semiempirical theory of viscous hydrodynamics for gases confined to anisotropic harmonic potentials. The derived equations of motion provide a simple effective theory that show favorable agreement with full numerical solutions. To do so, the theory must carefully account for the size and shape of the effective volume within which the gas's behavior is hydrodynamic. Although formulated for close-to-threshold dipolar collisions, our theoretical framework can be repurposed for other elastic cross sections in future studies.