Physical Review A
Short-time dynamics of an ultracold Fermi gas in radio-frequency spectroscopy
Chun Kit Chung, C. K. Law
Abstract
We employ a time-dependent variational approach to investigate the dynamics of a fermionic atomic gas driven by a radio-frequency (rf) field at zero temperature. Starting from an initial Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) state with pairing of atoms of two internal levels, an rf field transfers atoms to a third level. Dynamical equations derived from the variational principle are shown to be consistent with the time-dependent Bogoliubov--de Gennes equation. In particular, we show that the short-time dynamics is governed by a set of linear equations, in which an eigenvector associated with a discrete eigenvalue can be identified as the formation of a pair bound state in the final scattering channel. Such a bound state induces characteristic oscillations in the time evolution of the order parameter. At longer times numerical solutions demonstrate complicated dynamics where linear theory breaks down.