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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Superfluid density profile in a trapped Fermi gas

Nicolai Gayle Nygaard, Hui Hu, Xia-Ji Liu

Published May 22, 2009• 0 citations
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Abstract

We present a microscopic calculation of the local superfluid density for a Fermi gas with a spatially varying density profile. By imposing an infinitesimal twist on the phase of the order parameter and calculating the resulting strain energy perturbatively, we find the helicity modulus, which is directly tied to the density of the superfluid component. The superfluid density determines the moment of inertia and in a two-fluid description of the hydrodynamics it is fundamental in a calculation of the collective mode frequencies.

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Renormalization-group calculation of superfluid density and helicity modulus

Miguel Calvo

The field-theoretical renormalization-group techniques previously developed for the description of the mestastable phases of isotropic, homogeneous, $d$-dimensional systems, which (close to their critical temperature) can be described in terms of the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson functional integral with a two-component order parameter, and applied to obtain the scaling form of the helicity modulus, defined as a measure of the free-energy increment associated with a metastable, helical twisting of the order parameter. The general scaling form of this quantity is determined even in the presence of an external helical field, for arbitrary helix pitch and temperature. In the case of vanishing external field, this quantity represents the superfluid density and is a function of the temperature and the superfluid velocity (which corresponds to the inverse of the helix pitch). In the limit of small velocities this expression exhibits the well-known Josephson asymptotic form ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}\ensuremath{\sim}{({T}_{c}\ensuremath{-}T)}^{\ensuremath{\nu}(d\ensuremath{-}2)}={({T}_{c}\ensuremath{-}T)}^{2\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\eta}}$. An explicit $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=4\ensuremath{-}d$ expansion for the helicity modulus is presented in the case of arbitrary external field to the one-loop approximation.

Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Dec 1, 1981•1 citation
We present a microscopic calculation of the local superfluid density for a Fermi gas with a spatially varying density profile. By imposing an infinitesimal twist on the phase of the order parameter and calculating the resulting strain energy perturbatively, we find the helicity modulus, which is directly tied to the density of the superfluid component. The superfluid density determines the moment of inertia and in a two-fluid description of the hydrodynamics it is fundamental in a calculation of the collective mode frequencies.
We present the results of a variational calculation of the frequencies of the low-lying Landau two-fluid hydrodynamic modes in a trapped Fermi superfluid gas at unitarity. Landau's two-fluid hydrodynamics is expected to be the correct theory of Fermi superfluids at finite temperatures close to unitarity, where strong interactions give rise to collisional hydrodynamics. Two-fluid hydrodynamics predicts the existence of in-phase modes in which the superfluid and normal fluid components oscillate together, as well as out-of-phase modes where the two components move against each other. We prove that, at unitarity, the dipole and breathing in-phase modes are locally isentropic. Their frequencies are independent of temperature and are the same above and below the superfluid transition, a feature due as much to the harmonic trapping potential as to the thermodynamic properties at unitarity. The out-of-phase modes, in contrast, are strongly dependent on temperature and hence can be used to test the thermodynamic properties and superfluid density of a Fermi gas at unitarity. We give numerical results for the frequencies of these modes as function of temperature in an isotropic trap at unitarity.
We investigate the ``twist'' mode (rotation of the upper against the lower hemisphere) of a dilute atomic Fermi gas in a spherical trap. The normal and superfluid phases are considered. The linear response to this external perturbation is calculated within the microscopic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach. In the normal phase the excitation spectrum is concentrated in a rather narrow peak very close to the trapping frequency. In the superfluid phase the strength starts to be damped and fragmented and the collectivity of the mode is progressively lost when the temperature decreases. In the weak-pairing regime some reminiscence of the collective motion still exists, whereas in the strong-pairing regime the twist mode is completely washed out. The disappearance of the twist mode in the strong-pairing regime with decreasing temperature is interpreted in the framework of the two-fluid model.
On the basis of the phase diagram of the uniform system, we calculate the density profiles of a trapped polarized Fermi gas at zero temperature using the local density approximation. By varying the overall polarization and the interaction strength, we analyze the appearance of a discontinuity in the profile, signaling a first-order phase transition from a superfluid inner core to a normal outer shell. The local population imbalance between the two components and the size of the various regions of the cloud corresponding to different phases are also discussed. The calculated profiles are quantitatively compared with the ones recently measured by Shin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 070404 (2008)].
We study low-energy collective excitations in a trapped superfluid Fermi gas. These excitations originate from slow variations of the phase of the superfluid order parameter and, in this sense, are similar to the Bogolyubov sound in a homogeneous superfluid Fermi gas. Well below the critical temperature the eigenfrequencies of the lowest collective excitations are of the order of the trap frequency, and these modes manifest themselves in the density oscillations under periodic modulations of the trap frequencies. This gives a clear signature of the presence of a superfluid phase.
Abstract This chapter is devoted to discussing relevant dynamical and superfluid phenomena exhibited by interacting Fermi gases at low temperatures, with special focus on the strongly interacting Fermi gas at unitarity. The chapter discusses the predictions of hydrodynamic theory concerning the propagation of sound, the collective oscillations and the expansion of the gas after release of the trap. The Landau criterion for superfluidity and the behaviour of the dynamic structure factor are discussed. It also provides some considerations on the radiofrequency transitions as a method to observe pair-breaking transitions and to measure the pairing gap. The chapter discusses the behaviour of two-fluid hydrodynamics and the propagation of second sound as a tool to measure the superfluid density of interacting Fermi gases. It finally provides a brief summary of the rotational properties of the superfluid Fermi gas, like the quenching of the moment of inertia and the occurrence of quantized vortices.
The field-theoretical renormalization-group techniques previously developed for the description of the mestastable phases of isotropic, homogeneous, ddd-dimensional systems, which (close to their critical temperature) can be described in terms of the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson functional integral with a two-component order parameter, and applied to obtain the scaling form of the helicity modulus, defined as a measure of the free-energy increment associated with a metastable, helical twisting of the order parameter. The general scaling form of this quantity is determined even in the presence of an external helical field, for arbitrary helix pitch and temperature. In the case of vanishing external field, this quantity represents the superfluid density and is a function of the temperature and the superfluid velocity (which corresponds to the inverse of the helix pitch). In the limit of small velocities this expression exhibits the well-known Josephson asymptotic form ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}\ensuremath{\sim}{({T}_{c}\ensuremath{-}T)}^{\ensuremath{\nu}(d\ensuremath{-}2)}={({T}_{c}\ensuremath{-}T)}^{2\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\eta}}$. An explicit $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=4\ensuremath{-}d$ expansion for the helicity modulus is presented in the case of arbitrary external field to the one-loop approximation.