Physics
Jumping from two and three particles to infinitely many
D. Blume
Abstract
Three fermions with strongly repulsive interactions in a spherical harmonic trap constitute the simplest nontrivial system that can exhibit the onset of itinerant ferromagnetism.Here, we present exact solutions for three trapped, attractively interacting fermions near a Feshbach resonance.We analyze energy levels on the upper branch of the resonance where the atomic interaction is effectively repulsive.When the s-wave scattering length a is sufficiently positive, three fully polarized fermions are energetically stable against a single spin-flip, indicating the possibility of itinerant ferromagnetism, as inferred in the recent experiment.We also investigate the high-temperature thermodynamics of a strongly repulsive or attractive Fermi gas using a quantum virial expansion.The second and third virial coefficients are calculated.The resulting equations of state can be tested in future quantitative experimental measurements at high temperatures and can provide a useful benchmark for quantum Monte Carlo simulations.