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 show, using an ab initio approach based on Quantum Monte Carlo technique, that the pseudogap regime emerges in ultracold Fermi gases close to the unitary point. We locate the onset of this regime at a value of the interaction strength corresponding to (k(F)a)(-1)≈-0.05 (a-scattering length). We determine the evolution of the gap as a function of temperature and interaction strength in the Fermi gas around the unitary limit and show that our results exhibit a remarkable agreement with the recent wave-vector resolved radio frequency spectroscopy data. Our results indicate that a finite temperature structure of the Fermi gas around unitarity is more complicated and involves the presence of the phase with preformed Cooper pairs, which, however, do not contribute to the long range order.