Influence of collective modes on the order of the phase transition

J. Nyberg

Vito Latora, Andrea Rapisarda

Anna Lopatnikova, Steven H. Simon, Eugene Demler

We use the time-dependent Hartree Fock approximation to study the collective-mode spectra of $\ensuremath{\nu}=2$ quantum Hall bilayers in tilted magnetic fields, allowing for charge imbalance as well as tunneling between the two layers. In a previous companion paper to this work, we studied the zero-temperature global phase diagram of this system, which was found to include symmetric and ferromagnetic phases as well as a first-order transition between two canted phases with spontaneously broken U(1) symmetry. We further found that this first-order transition line ends in a quantum critical point within the canted region. In the current work, we study the excitation spectra of all of these phases and pay particular attention to the behavior of the collective modes near the phase transitions. We find, most interestingly, that the first-order transition between the two canted phases is signaled by a near softening of a magnetoroton minimum. Many of the collective-mode features explored here should be accessible experimentally in light-scattering experiments.

Wolfhard Janke E

Hang Dong, Wenyuan Zhang, Zhou Li +1 more

We investigate the transition and damping of low-energy collective modes in a trapped unitary Fermi gas by solving the Boltzmann-Vlasov kinetic equation in a scaled form, which is combined with both the T-matrix fluctuation theory in normal phase and the mean-field theory in order phase. In order to connect the microscopic and kinetic descriptions of many-body Feshbach scattering, we adopt a phenomenological two-fluid physical approach, and derive the coupling constants in the order phase. By solving the Boltzmann-Vlasov steady-state equation in a variational form, we calculate two viscous relaxation rates with the collision probabilities of fermion's scattering including fermions in the normal fluid and fermion pairs in the superfluid. Additionally, by considering the pairing and depairing of fermions, we get results of the frequency and damping of collective modes versus temperature and s-wave scattering length. Our theoretical results are in a remarkable agreement with the experimental data, particularly for the sharp transition between collisionless and hydrodynamic behaviour and strong damping between BCS and unitary limits near the phase transition. The sharp transition originates from the maximum of viscous relaxation rate caused by fermion-fermion pair collision at the phase transition point when the fermion depair, while the strong damping due to the fast varying of the frequency of collective modes from BCS limit to unitary limit.

Wolfhard Janke E, Desmond A. Johnston, Ralph Kenna B