Background : The theory of a Fermi gas constitutes a useful physical model with multiple applications from solid state to stellar physics. The theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas is relatively simple when compared with the one for a relativistic Fermi gas. Therefore, it would be useful if a rigorous theory of a relativistic Fermi gas could be constructed like the theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas. Methods : Such a theory, for T > 0 K, is presented here. It is based on using a recently reported formula for the energies of a relativistic spin-0 particle in a three-dimensional infinite well. The Pauli exclusion principle is used for taking care of the fermion nature of the particles forming a Fermi gas. Results : A unified description of a Fermi gas at low temperatures is presented. This description is valid from the non-relativistic to the ultra-relativistic limits. Moreover, it is simple. The theory follows the relatively simple approach often used for constructing the theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas. Conclusions : The ultra-relativistic results reported here are often obtained using a different approach than the one used in this work. These results are not new, but they corroborate the correctness of the presented approach. In addition, the relative simplicity of the approach presented in this work allows for teaching the theory of a relativistic Fermi gas in introductory quantum mechanics courses.
Background : The theory of a Fermi gas constitutes a useful physical model with multiple applications from solid state to stellar physics. The theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas is relatively simple when compared with the one for a relativistic Fermi gas. Therefore, it would be useful if a rigorous theory of a relativistic Fermi gas could be constructed like the theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas. Methods : Such a theory, for T > 0 K, is presented here. It is based on using a recently reported formula for the energies of a relativistic spin-0 particle in a three-dimensional infinite well. The Pauli exclusion principle is used for taking care of the fermion nature of the particles forming a Fermi gas. Results : A unified description of a Fermi gas at low temperatures is presented. This description is valid from the non-relativistic to the ultra-relativistic limits. Moreover, it is simple. The theory follows the relatively simple approach often used for constructing the theory of a non-relativistic Fermi gas. Conclusions : The ultra-relativistic results reported here are often obtained using a different approach than the one used in this work. These results are not new, but they corroborate the correctness of the presented approach. In addition, the relative simplicity of the approach presented in this work allows for teaching the theory of a relativistic Fermi gas in introductory quantum mechanics courses.
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.
Strongly interacting, dilute Fermi gases exhibit a scale-invariant, universal thermodynamic behavior. This is notoriously difficult to understand theoretically because of the absence of a small interaction parameter. Here, we present a systematic comparison of theoretical predictions from different quantum many-body theories with recent experimental data of Nascimbne et al (2010 Nature 463 1057). Our comparisons have no adjustable parameters, either theoretically or experimentally. All the model approximations seem to fluctuate rather than converge on the experimental data. It turns out that a simple Gaussian pair fluctuation theory gives the best quantitative agreement, except at the critical superfluid transition region. In the normal state, we also calculate the equation of state by using a quantum cluster expansion theory and explore in detail its applicability to low temperatures. Using the accurate experimental result for the thermodynamic function S ( T ), we determine the temperature T of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity as a function of a non-interacting temperature T i , which can be obtained by an adiabatic sweep to the free gas limit. By analyzing the recent experimental data, we find a characteristic temperature ( T / T F ) 0 =0.19±0.02 or ( T i / T F ) 0 =0.16±0.02 in a harmonic trap, below which there are deviations from normal Fermi-liquid-like behavior that may be attributed to pairing effects. Here, T F is the Fermi temperature for a trapped ideal, non-interacting Fermi gas. Our thorough comparison may shed light on the further theoretical development of strongly interacting fermions.
Recent developments in the physics of low density trapped gases make it worthwhile to verify old, well known results that, while plausible, were based on perturbation theory and assumptions about pseudopotentials. We use and extend recently developed techniques to give a rigorous derivation of the asymptotic formula for the ground state energy of a dilute gas of N fermions interacting with a short-range, positive potential of scattering length a. For spin 1/2 fermions, this is E∼E0+(ℏ2/2m)2πNρa, where E0 is the energy of the non-interacting system and ρ is the density.
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 propose a simple model of an interacting, fully spin-polarized Fermi gas in dimensions d=2 and d=3, and derive the approximate expression for the energy spectrum and the corresponding formula for the Helmholtz free energy. We analyze the thermodynamics of the system and find the lines of first-order phase transitions between the low- and high-density phases terminating at critical points. The properties of the corresponding phase diagrams are qualitatively different for d=2 and 3, and sensitively depend on the interparticle attraction, which marks a departure from the standard van der Waals theory. The differences originate from the Pauli exclusion principle and are embedded in the fermionic nature of the system under study.
In the 1930s, two main paradigms for the theoretical description of ferromagnetism were developed: Heisenberg ferromagnetism of localized fermions (e.g., in a lattice), and Bloch or Stoner ferromagnetism of nonlocalized fermions (i.e., in a gas), also called itinerant ferromagnetism. Despite many theoretical predictions, itinerant ferromagnetism has remained elusive in experiments. This ferromagnetic state is predicted to occur for strong repulsive interactions, corresponding to a regime that is very challenging to describe theoretically because there are multiple competing physical effects, including superfluid pairing. In this paper, we point out that the problem of itinerant ferromagnetism for atomic Fermi gases is different from that of electron gases in metals due to the short-range nature of the interatomic interactions. We also show that the standard saddle point used to describe itinerant ferromagnetism of the electron gas in metals does not apply, because in the short-range limit of this approximation the Pauli exclusion principle is violated. As a remedy, we introduce a modified interaction pseudopotential for ultracold gases which includes both local (Hartree) and nonlocal (Fock) terms while preserving the Pauli exclusion principle in the short-range regime. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usefulness of this method to study the existence and stability of itinerant ferromagnetism in ultracold atomic gases. Lastly, we obtain the critical temperature for the ferromagnetic transition as a function of the opposite-spin interaction strength and find a rather good agreement with recent experimental results.