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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences

Functional renormalization for the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer to Bose–Einstein condensation crossover

Michael M. Scherer, Stefan Floerchinger, Holger Gies A

Published Jun 6, 2011• 25 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We review the functional renormalization group (RG) approach to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover for an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms. Formulated in terms of a scale-dependent effective action, the functional RG interpolates continuously between the atomic or molecular microphysics and the macroscopic physics on large length scales. We concentrate on the discussion of the phase diagram as a function of the scattering length and the temperature, which is a paradigm example for the non-perturbative power of the functional RG. A systematic derivative expansion provides for both a description of the many-body physics and its expected universal features as well as an accurate account of the few-body physics and the associated BEC and BCS limits.

DOI
10.1098/rsta.2011.0072

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We review the functional renormalization group (RG) approach to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover for an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms. Formulated in terms of a scale-dependent effective action, the functional RG interpolates continuously between the atomic or molecular microphysics and the macroscopic physics on large length scales. We concentrate on the discussion of the phase diagram as a function of the scattering length and the temperature, which is a paradigm example for the non-perturbative power of the functional RG. A systematic derivative expansion provides for both a description of the many-body physics and its expected universal features as well as an accurate account of the few-body physics and the associated BEC and BCS limits.
We review the functional renormalization group (RG) approach to the BCS-BEC crossover for an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms. Formulated in terms of a scale-dependent effective action, the functional RG interpolates continuously between the atomic or molecular microphysics and the macroscopic physics on large length scales. We concentrate on the discussion of the phase diagram as a function of the scattering length and the temperature which is a paradigm example for the non-perturbative power of the functional RG. A systematic derivative expansion provides for both a description of the many-body physics and its expected universal features as well as an accurate account of the few-body physics and the associated BEC and BCS limits.
Abstract The phase transition to superfluidity and the BCS‐BEC crossover for an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms is discussed within a functional renormalization group approach. Non‐perturbative flow equations, based on an exact renormalization group equation, describe the scale dependence of the flowing or average action. They interpolate continuously from the microphysics at atomic or molecular distance scales to the macroscopic physics at much larger length scales, as given by the interparticle distance, the correlation length, or the size of the experimental probe. We discuss the phase diagram as a function of the scattering length and the temperature and compute the gap, the correlation length and the scattering length for molecules. Close to the critical temperature, we find the expected universal behavior. Our approach allows for a description of the few‐body physics (scattering and molecular binding) and the many‐body physics within the same formalism.
The method of functional renormalization is applied to the theoretical investigation of ultracold quantum gases. Flow equations are derived for a Bose gas with approximately pointlike interaction, for a Fermi gas with two (hyperfine) spin components in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover and for a Fermi gas with three components. The solution of the flow equations determine the properties of these systems both in the few-body regime and in thermal equilibrium. For the Bose gas this covers the quantum phase diagram, the condensate and superfluid fraction, the critical temperature, the correlation length, the specific heat or sound propagation. The properties are discussed both for three and two spatial dimensions. The discussion of the Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover concentrates on the effect of particle-hole fluctuations but addresses the complete phase diagram. For the three component fermions, the flow equations in the few-body regime show a limit-cycle scaling and the Efimov tower of three-body bound states. Applied to the case of Lithium they explain recently observed three-body loss features. Extending the calculations by continuity to nonzero density, it is found that a new trion phase separates a BCS and a BEC phase for three component fermions close to a common resonance. More formal is the derivation of a new exact flow equation for scale dependent composite operators. This equation allows for example a better treatment of bound states.
We give a self-contained introduction to the physics of ultracold atoms using functional integral techniques. Based on a consideration of the relevant length scales, we derive the universal effective low energy Hamiltonian describing ultracold alkali atoms. We then introduce the concept of the effective action, which generalizes the classical action principle to full quantum status and provides an intuitive and versatile tool for practical calculations. This framework is applied to weakly interacting degenerate bosons and fermions in the spatial continuum. In particular, we discuss the related BEC and BCS quantum condensation mechanisms. We then turn to the BCS-BEC crossover, which interpolates between both phenomena, and which is realized experimentally in the vicinity of a Feshbach resonance. For its description, we introduce the Functional Renormalization Group approach. After a general discussion of the method in the cold atoms context, we present a detailed and pedagogical application to the crossover problem. This not only provides the physical mechanism underlying this phenomenon. More generally, it also reveals how the renormalization group can be used as a tool to capture physics at all scales, from few-body scattering on microscopic scales, through the finite temperature phase diagram governed by many-body length scales, up to critical phenomena dictating long distance physics at the phase transition. The presentation aims to equip students at the beginning PhD level with knowledge on key physical phenomena and flexible tools for their description, and should enable to embark upon practical calculations in this field.
A functional renormalization-group study for the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)-BCS crossover for ultracold gases of fermionic atoms is presented. We discuss the fixed point which is at the origin of universality for broad Feshbach resonances. All macroscopic quantities depend only on one relevant parameter, the concentration akFa{k}_{\mathrm{F}}akF​, besides their dependence on the temperature in units of the Fermi energy. In particular, we compute the universal ratio between molecular and atomic scattering length in vacuum. We also present an estimate to which level of accuracy universality holds for gases of Li and K atoms.
The continuous crossover between a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)-type superfluid of fermion pairs and a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of tightly bound bosonic molecules can be attributed to the spontaneous breaking of global U(1)U(1)U(1) gauge symmetry which underlies both quantum condensation phenomena. Recently much attention has been paid to this problem, since Feshbach resonances allow for an experimental implementation of crossover physics in cold fermion gases. The strong interactions close to resonance call for an analysis beyond Mean Field Theory. We develop a systematic functional integral approach for the description of this phenomenon. Starting from a Yukawa-type atom-molecule model, a symmetry analysis allows to both construct the equation of state and to classify the thermodynamic phases in a unified way. The onset of superfluidity is signalled by the emergence of a massless Goldstone mode associated with the broken continuous U(1) symmetry. Beyond Mean Field, we include fluctuations of the molecule field self-consistently via the solution of suitable Schwinger-Dyson equations. The phase diagram is computed, and a variety of universal features are established. A new form of crossover from an exactly solvable narrow resonance limit to broad resonances or pointlike interactions is found. At low temperature our results agree well with quantum Monte Carlo simulations and recent experiments. Our approach is further developed in the frame of functional renormalization group equations. While the effective bosonic theory in the BEC regime shows the characteristics of a Bogoliubov theory for small temperatures, the phase transition is of second order.