arXiv:1609.09691 · Physical Review A
BCS-pairing state of a dilute Bose gas with spin-orbit coupling
Dekun Luo, Lan Yin
Abstract
We study a two-component Bose gas with a symmetric spin-orbit coupling, and find that two atoms can form a bound state with any intra- or inter-species scattering length. Consequently, in the dilute limit, the BCS-pairing state of bosons can be formed with weakly attractive interspecies and repulsive intraspecies interactions. The quasiparticle excitation energies are anisotropic due to spin-orbit coupling. This BCS-pairing state is energetically favored over Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of atoms at low densities. As the density increases, there is a first-order transition from the BCS to BEC states.