Dynamics of Superfluids

Ziyue Wang, Lianyi He

We investigate superfluidity in nonrelativistic fermionic systems in which the pairing interaction includes a contribution from the exchange of a dynamical bosonic mode. We show that the dynamical boson exchange (DBE), which causes a retarded pairing interaction and thus violates the Galilean invariance of the fermion sector, generically leads to a quantum reduction of the superfluid density and hence a nonzero normal fraction even at zero temperature. For spin-singlet pairing, the DBE also leads to a nonvanishing spin susceptibility at zero temperature, providing a mechanism for the coexistence of pairing and magnetization. While these effects are negligible for weak pairing, they become sizable at strong pairing. For the double superfluidity in ultracold Fermi-Bose mixtures, the superfluid density reduction for the fermion sector induced by the DBE just gives rise to the Andreev-Bashkin drag effect, indicating a strong entrainment between the two superfluid components. The DBE may also provide a new source for the superfluid fraction reduction of neutron matter, which is crucial for models of neutron star glitches based on neutron superfluidity.

Stephen Teitel

Carlos Wexler

Shi-Jie Yang, Pei Lu, Shiping Feng

The quantum dynamics of two-species bosons in an optical lattice is studied within the mean-field theory. The quantum coherence experiences periodical collapses and revivals, which depends on the relative strength of the inter-and intra-species interactions. The paired superfluidity and the counterflow superfluidity are identified and are verified by exact diagonaliztion in the two-site Hubbard model. We suggest a dynamical method of implementation and detection for the paired superfluid and the counterflow superfluidity in the optical lattices.

F.W. Cummings, James R. Johnston

Peng Zou, Huaisong Zhao, Lianyi He +2 more

We theoretically investigate dynamic structure factors of a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid near an orbital Feshbach resonance with random phase approximation approach at zero temperature, and find their dynamical characters across the phase transition from a balanced conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to a polarized Sarma superfluid by continuously varying the chemical potential difference of two spin components. In a Bose-Einstein-condensate-like regime of the Fermi superfluid, dynamic structure factors can help distinguish the in-phase ground state from the out-of-phase metastable state by the relative location of molecular excitation and Leggett mode, or the minimum energy to break a Cooper pair. In the phase transition from BCS to Sarma superfluid, we find the dynamic structure factor of Sarma superfluid has its own specific gapless excitation at a small transferred momentum where the collective phonon excitation acquires a finite width, and also a relatively strong atomic excitation at a large transferred momentum, because of the existence of unpaired Fermi atoms. Our results can be used to differentiate Sarma superfluid from BCS superfluid.