Superfluidity properties of heated finite Fermi systems are studied in the static fluctuation approximation, which is an original method. This method relies on a single and controlled approximation, which permits taking correctly into account quasiparticle correlations and thereby going beyond the independent-quasiparticle model. A closed self-consistent set of equations for calculating correlation functions at finite temperature is obtained for a finite Fermi system described by the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer Hamiltonian. An equation for the energy gap is found with allowance for fluctuation effects. It is shown that the phase transition to the supefluid state is smeared upon the inclusion of fluctuations.
Superfluidity properties of heated finite Fermi systems are studied in the static fluctuation approximation, which is an original method. This method relies on a single and controlled approximation, which permits taking correctly into account quasiparticle correlations and thereby going beyond the independent-quasiparticle model. A closed self-consistent set of equations for calculating correlation functions at finite temperature is obtained for a finite Fermi system described by the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer Hamiltonian. An equation for the energy gap is found with allowance for fluctuation effects. It is shown that the phase transition to the supefluid state is smeared upon the inclusion of fluctuations.
Abstract The low-temperature properties of a wide range of many-fermion systems spanning metals, quantum gases and liquids to nuclear matter are well understood within the framework of Landau’s theory of Fermi liquids. The low-energy physics of these systems is governed by interacting fermionic quasiparticles with momenta and energies near a Fermi surface in momentum space. Nonequilibrium properties are described by a kinetic equation for the distribution function for quasiparticles proposed by Landau. Quasiparticle interactions with other quasiparticles, phonons, or impurities lead to internal forces acting on a distribution of nonequilibrium quasiparticles, as well as collision processes that ultimately limit the transport of mass, heat, charge, and magnetization, as well as limiting the coherence times of quasiparticles. For Fermi liquids that are close to a second-order phase transition, e.g., Fermi liquids that undergo a superfluid transition, incipient Cooper pairs—long-lived fluctuations of the ordered phase—provide a new channel for scattering quasiparticles, as well as corrections to internal forces acting on the distribution of nonequilibrium quasiparticles. We develop the theory of quasiparticle transport for Fermi liquids in the vicinity of a BCS-type superfluid transition starting from Keldysh’s field theory for nonequilibrium, strongly interacting fermions. The leading corrections to Fermi-liquid theory for nonequilibrium quasiparticle transport near a Cooper instability arise from the virtual emission and absorption of incipient Cooper pairs. Our theory is applicable to quasiparticle transport in superconductors, nuclear matter, and the low-temperature phases of liquid 3He. As an implementation of the theory we calculate the pairing-fluctuation corrections to the attenuation of zero sound in liquid 3He near the superfluid transition and demonstrate quantitative agreement with experimental results.
Abstract In the normal state of a superfluid condensate, like the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) superconducting state, we do not expect a gapped feature in the single-particle spectral function. Here we calculate the spectral function and single-particle density of states (DOS) of ultracold Fermi gases at different temperatures in the normal state. The calculation is conducted based on the non-self-consistent T -matrix approximation (nTMA) with particle–hole fluctuation. It is found that a dip structure emerges in the DOS above the superfluid phase-transition temperature T c . We attribute this dip structure to the pseudogap, and its temperature is determined. From the temperature dependence of the spectral function, we also find another characteristic temperature where a two-peak structure disappears. The results provide deep insight into the superfluid condensate formed by ultracold fermions.
We suggest a new method of calculation of the equilibrium correlation functions of an arbitrary order for the interacting Fermi-gas model in the framework of the static fluctuation approximation method. This method based only on a single and controllable approximation allows obtaining the so-called far-distance equations. These equations connecting the quantum states of a Fermi particle with variables of the local field operator contain all necessary information related to the calculation of the desired correlation functions and basic thermodynamic parameters of the many-body system. The basic expressions for the mean energy and heat capacity for the electron gas at low temperatures in the high-density limit were obtained. All expressions are given in the units of r s , where r s determines the ratio of a mean distance between electrons to the Bohr radius a 0. In these expressions, we calculate terms of the respective order r s and r 2 . It is also shown that the static fluctuation approximation allows finding the terms related to higher orders of the decomposition with respect to the parameter r s .
A fermion system with a simple attractive interaction is discussed with the aid of time-dependent correlation functions. Although perturbation theory is inapplicable, a sequence of correlation approximations described in the first paper of this series can be employed. The lowest approximation in the sequence expresses the two-particle correlation function in terms of single-particle functions and leads to the Hartree approximation; the second expresses three-particle correlation function in terms of one- and two-particle correlation functions and leads to the time-dependent correlation functions that characterize the super-conducting model of Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer. In the second section of this paper these correlation functions are determined and the thermodynamic properties of the superconductor are calculated from them.In the third section of the paper, the electromagnetic effects of the superconductor predicted by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer time-dependent correlation functions are considered. Their unsatisfactory description of current conservation is indicated and overcome in the fourth section by a more accurate solution valid at nonvanishing temperature. This solution predicts different diffusive properties but the same Meissner effect and superconductive behavior, since the longitudinal current correlation function is modified while the transverse current correlation functions is not.The fifth section of the paper is devoted to the properties of a pure superconductor which depend on the lifetimes of the single-particle excitations. The effect of these lifetimes on the static electrical conductivity is determined, and it is shown that they do not destroy supercurrents although they eliminate a gap in the single-particle excitation spectrum. Their effect on the thermal conductivity is also calculated using heat current correlation functions. It is shown that a model which treats the lifetime of the single-particle excitation due to lattice interactions as constant yields results in agreement with observed thermal conductivities.
A system of a finite number of harmonically trapped fermions in one dimension, in the presence of a static magnetic field, is studied within the framework of the static fluctuation approximation, for different repulsive and attractive potential strengths. Specifically, the thermodynamic properties of the system (the chemical potential, total energy, heat capacity, and entropy), as well as its magnetic properties (the magnetization and susceptibility), are calculated. It is observed that the system remains in an ordered phase for a small number of particles N, even at high temperatures T. Disorder sets in for large N, even at low T. The effect of the potential strength on the heat capacity is particularly tangible in the region bordering the quantum and classical regimes. The effect of the temperature (representing disorder) is directly opposite to that of the magnetic field (representing order), as expected on basic physical grounds. These features are consistent with experimental results.
The fluctuations properties of the BCS Hamiltonian which are induced in finite systems are explored. It is shown that for very large particle numbers, the static-path approximation is an excellent approximation, while for small particle numbers, the random-phase-approximation corrections should be taken into account, especially for particle numbers small enough to cause the normal- to superconducting-phase transition. A correlated mean field containing quantal fluctuations is introduced and compared with the Hartree-Bogoliubov mean field.