We report measurements of the transverse-spin-diffusion coefficient ${\mathit{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$ and the spin-rotation parameter \ensuremath{\Omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$ for two very dilute $^{3}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}$He mixtures (
x3=1.82\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$ and 6.26\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}4}$) spin polarized by an 8-T magnetic field. Brute-force spin polarization up to 40% was achieved at the lowest temperature, 6 mK. We find that \ensuremath{\Omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$ increases monotonically as the temperature is reduced through the Fermi temperature
TF, in disagreement with the only previous experiment but in good agreement with recent theory. Unlike the earlier experiment, which measured spin echoes, the present experiments employed a spin-wave technique that avoids nonlinear excitation of the spin field. We compare our results with the recent calculations of Jeon and Mullin for spin transport in dilute gases with arbitrary polarization and degeneracy. The best fit to the data is obtained by scaling the quasiparticle interaction V(q) proposed by Ebner by a modest factor, 1.07. The corresponding s-wave scattering length is a=-1.21 \AA{}. Good agreement is found for \ensuremath{\Omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$(T) at both concentrations and all temperatures, and for ${\mathit{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$/\ensuremath{\Omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$(T) apart from the lower concentration at T20 mK. The discrepancy in ${\mathit{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$/\ensuremath{\Omega}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$ at the lowest temperatures and
x3 could be explained by an unanticipated polarization dependence or by modification of the spin-wave boundary condition by processes occurring at the interface between the mixture and the silica cavity wall.
We carried out experiments on a spin polarized 3He- 4He mixture with 3He concentration x 3 = 6.26 × 10−4, and on pure 3He liquid. Spin polarization affects the transport properties of these Fermi systems. The effect on momentum transport was studied by using a vibrating-wire viscometer to measure viscosity of the 3He-4He mixture over the temperature range 6.09 mK–100 mK in 7.96 T and 1.00 T magnetic fields. A large viscosity increase was observed upon application of the 7.96 T magnetic field for temperature T < TF(TF = 19.5 mK is the Fermi temperature). The observed viscosity is in very good agreement with theoretical calculations for a dilute Fermi gas by Jeon and Mullin [1988, 1989] and Mullin and Jeon [1992]. The polarization effect on spin transport was investigated by measuring the transverse diffusion coefficient D ⊥ in pure 3He liquid at saturated vapor pressure and at 15.85 bar over the temperature range 4.5 mK–159 mK in a 7.96 T magnetic field. We used a pulsed NMR spin echo technique in a field gradient of 16.0 G/cm to do the measurements and fits to the Leggett equations [1970] to obtain D⊥. For T < 20 mK, we found D⊥ is less than measured in earlier experiments at lower magnetic fields. D⊥ does not increase with decreasing temperature as 1/T2, but appears to approach a constant as T → 0 while it is expected that the longitudinal spin diffusion coefficient D∥ ∝ 1/ T2. This is called spin diffusion anisotropy and it was observed for the first time in our 3He liquid experiments. The anisotropy temperature we determined for 3He liquid was Ta = 16.4 ± 2.2 mK at saturated vapor pressure and in a 7.96 T magnetic field. The transverse spin diffusion in 3 He results agree qualitatively with theories proposed by Meyerovich and Musaeflan [1992, 1994]. They also agree qualitatively with theories proposed by Golosov and Ruckenstein [1995, 1998] by extrapolation of the dilute theory to a strongly interacting system.
We compute spin diffusion in a dilute Fermi gas at arbitrary temperature, polarization, and strong interaction in the normal phase using kinetic theory. While the longitudinal spin diffusivity ${D}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}$ depends weakly on polarization and diverges for small temperatures, the transverse spin diffusivity ${D}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ has a strong polarization dependence and approaches a finite value for $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ in the Fermi liquid phase. For a 3D unitary Fermi gas at infinite scattering length, the diffusivities reach a minimum near the quantum limit of diffusion $\ensuremath{\hbar}/m$ in the quantum degenerate regime and are strongly suppressed by medium scattering, and we discuss the importance of the spin-rotation effect. In two dimensions, ${D}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ attains a minimum at strong coupling $\ensuremath{-}1\ensuremath{\lesssim}\mathrm{ln}({k}_{F}{a}_{2D})\ensuremath{\lesssim}1$ and reaches ${D}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}\ensuremath{\sim}0.2...\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}0.3\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\hbar}/m$ at large polarization. These values are consistent with recent measurements of two-dimensional ultracold atomic gases in the strong coupling regime.