Abstract. We consider a non-interacting Fermi gas in d dimensions, both in the non-relativistic and relativistic case. The system of size Ld is initially prepared into two halves L and R, each of them thermalized at two different temperatures, TL and TR respectively. At time t = 0 the two halves are put in contact and the entire system is left to evolve unitarily. We show that, in the thermodynamic limit, the time evolution of the particle and energy densities is perfectly described by a semiclassical approach which permits to analytically evaluate the correspondent stationary currents. In particular, in the case of non-relativistic fermions, we find a low-temperature behavior for the particle and energy currents which is independent from the dimensionality d of the system, being proportional to the difference T 2L − T 2R. Only in one spatial dimension (d = 1), the results for the non-relativistic case agree with the massless relativistic ones. 1.
Abstract. We consider a non-interacting Fermi gas in d dimensions, both in the non-relativistic and relativistic case. The system of size Ld is initially prepared into two halves L and R, each of them thermalized at two different temperatures, TL and TR respectively. At time t = 0 the two halves are put in contact and the entire system is left to evolve unitarily. We show that, in the thermodynamic limit, the time evolution of the particle and energy densities is perfectly described by a semiclassical approach which permits to analytically evaluate the correspondent stationary currents. In particular, in the case of non-relativistic fermions, we find a low-temperature behavior for the particle and energy currents which is independent from the dimensionality d of the system, being proportional to the difference T 2L − T 2R. Only in one spatial dimension (d = 1), the results for the non-relativistic case agree with the massless relativistic ones. 1.
We consider a non-interacting Fermi gas in d dimensions, both in the non-relativistic and relativistic case. The system of size Ld is initially prepared into two halves L and R, each of them thermalized at two different temperatures, TL and TR respectively. At time t=0 the two halves are put in contact and the entire system is left to evolve unitarily. We show that, in the thermodynamic limit, the time evolution of the particle and energy densities is perfectly described by a semiclassical approach which permits to analytically evaluate the correspondent stationary currents. In particular, in the case of non-relativistic fermions, we find a low-temperature behavior for the particle and energy currents which is independent from the dimensionality d of the system, being proportional to the difference TL2−TR2. Only in one spatial dimension (d=1), the results for the non-relativistic case agree with the massless relativistic ones.
We study the quantum evolution of many-body Fermi gases in three dimensions, in arbitrarily large domains. We consider both particles with non-relativistic and with relativistic dispersion. We focus on the high-density regime, in the semiclassical scaling, and we consider a class of initial data describing zero-temperature states. In the non-relativistic case we prove that, as the density goes to infinity, the many-body evolution of the reduced one-particle density matrix converges to the solution of the time-dependent Hartree equation, for short macroscopic times. In the case of relativistic dispersion, we show convergence of the many-body evolution to the relativistic Hartree equation for all macroscopic times. With respect to previous work, the rate of convergence does not depend on the total number of particles, but only on the density: in particular, our result allows us to study the quantum dynamics of extensive many-body Fermi gases.
Equilibration of an isolated Fermi gas in one spatial dimension after an interaction quench is studied. Evaluating Kadanoff-Beym dynamic equations for correlation functions obtained from the two-particle-irreducible effective action in nonperturbative approximation, the gas is seen to evolve to states characterized by thermal as well as nonthermal momentum distributions, depending on the assumed initial conditions. For total energies near the Fermi temperature, stationary power laws emerge for the high-momentum tails while at lower momenta the distributions are of Fermi-Dirac type. The relation found between fluctuations and dissipation exhibits nonthermal final states.
In this thesis, far-from-equilibrium dynamics of fermionic quantum gases is discussed utilising functional quantum field theoretical methods. Employing the Schwinger-Keldysh path integral, real-time Schwinger-Dyson/Kadanoff-Baym dynamic equations for the two-point correlation functions are derived from the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action. For two specific models, these dynamic equations are investigated further. (a) For an N-fold spin-degenerate ultra-cold Fermi gas, non-perturbative approximation schemes based on either a loop or a 1/N expansion of the 2PI effective action are presented. Adopting these approximations, the long-time evolution of a homogeneous Fermi gas with N=2 after an initial preparation far from thermal equilibrium is thoroughly studied in one spatial dimension. Depending on the total energy, the gas is found to evolve into thermal as well as non-thermal states, the latter becoming manifest in violating the fluctuation-dissipation relation. (b) A similar 1/N expansion is derived for the SU(N) symmetric Kondo lattice model. At leading order, the mean-field dynamic equations of the U=0 Anderson model are recovered. At next-to-leading order (NLO), both spin-flip and direct interactions between localised atoms and conduction band atoms are taken into account non-perturbatively into the dynamic equations. This allows future studies of possibly existing novel phases in coupling regimes where the Kondo screening and RKKY-type interactions are competing.
Abstract We study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of noninteracting fermions in one dimension and in continuum space, in the presence of a delta impurity potential at the origin whose strength g is varied at time t = 0. The system is prepared in its ground state with g = g 0 = +∞, with two different densities and Fermi wave-vectors k L and k R on the two half-spaces x > 0 and x < 0 respectively. It then evolves for t > 0 as an isolated system, with a finite impurity strength g . We compute exactly the time dependent density and current. For a fixed position x and in the large time limit t → ∞, the system reaches a non-equilibrium stationary state (NESS). We obtain analytically the correlation kernel, density, particle current, and energy current in the NESS, and characterize their relaxation, which is algebraic in time. In particular, in the NESS, we show that, away from the impurity, the particle density displays oscillations which are the non-equilibrium analog of the Friedel oscillations. In the regime of ‘rays’, x / t = ξ fixed with x , t → ∞, we compute the same quantities and observe the emergence of two light cones, associated to the Fermi velocities k L and k R in the initial state. Interestingly, we find non trivial quantum correlations between two opposite rays with velocities ξ and − ξ which we compute explicitly. We extend to a continuum setting and to a correlated initial state the analytical methods developed in a recent work of Ljubotina, Sotiriadis and Prosen, in the context of a discrete fermionic chain with an impurity. We also generalize our results to an initial state at finite temperature, recovering, via explicit calculations, some predictions of conformal field theory in the low energy limit.
Fermionic matter is ubiquitous in nature, from the electrons in metals and semiconductors or the neutrons in the inner crust of neutron stars, to gases of fermionic atoms, like 40K or 6Li that can be created and studied under laboratory conditions. It is especially interesting to study these systems at very low temperatures, where we enter the world of quantum mechanical phenomena. Due to the Fermi-Dirac statistics, a dilute system of spin-polarised fermions exhibits no interactions and can be viewed as an ideal Fermi gas. However, interactions play a crucial role for fermions of several spin species. This thesis addresses several questions concerning interacting Fermi gases, in particular the transition between the normal and the superfluid phase and dynamical properties at higher temperatures. First we will look at the unitary Fermi gas: a two-component system of fermions interacting with divergent scattering length. This system is particularly interesting as it exhibits universal behaviour. Due to the strong interactions perturbation theory is inapplicable and no exact theoretical description is available. I will describe the Determinant Diagrammatic Monte Carlo algorithm with which the unitary Fermi gas can be studied from first principles. This algorithm fails in the presence of a spin imbalance (unequal number of particles in the two components) due to a sign problem. I will show how to apply reweighting techniques to generalise the algorithm to the imbalanced case, and present results for the critical temperature and other thermodynamic observables at the critical point, namely the chemical potential, the energy per particle and the contact density. These are the first numerical results for the imbalanced unitary Fermi gas at finite temperature. I will also show how temperatures beyond the critical point can be accessed and present results for the equation of state and the temperature dependence of the contact density. At sufficiently high temperatures a semiclassical description captures all relevant physical features of the system. The dynamics of an interacting Fermi gas can then be studied via a numerical simulation of the Boltzmann equation. I will describe such a numerical setup and apply it to study the collision of two spin-polarised fermionic clouds. When the two components are separated in an elongated harmonic trap and then released, they collide and for sufficiently strong interactions can bounce off each other several times. I will discuss the different types of the qualitative behaviour, show how they can be interpreted in terms of the equilibrium properties of the system, and explain how they relate to the coupling between different excitation modes. I will also demonstrate how transport coefficients, for instance the spin drag, can be extracted from the numerical data.