Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Imbalanced Fermi gases and dilute interacting Polarons

Christophe Mora

Published Jul 14, 2010• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Recent experiments on imbalanced Fermi gases in ultracold atomic systems have raised interest in the physics of an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea, the so-called Fermi polaron. In particular, the internal energy of a Fermi polaron gives the threshold for a fully polarized normal phase. When partially polarized, the normal phase can be described quantitatively as a Fermi liquid of dilute polarons. We discuss a simple theory devised to describe dilute Fermi-polaron ensembles and show that an exact formula can be obtained for the dominant interaction between polarons. It is expressed solely in terms of a single polaron parameter. The physics of this interaction is identified as a signature of the Pauli exclusion principle. The comparison of this theory with experimental results shows a remarkable agreement up to the vicinity of the transition to the superfluid phase.

Related papers

Normal Phase of an Imbalanced Fermi Gas

Christophe Mora, Frédéric Chevy

Recent experiments on imbalanced Fermi gases have raised interest in the physics of an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea, the so-called Fermi polaron. In this Letter, a simple theory is devised to describe dilute Fermi-polaron ensembles corresponding to the normal phase of an imbalanced Fermi gas. An exact formula is obtained for the dominant interaction between polarons, expressed solely in terms of a single-polaron parameter. The physics of this interaction is identified as a signature of the Pauli exclusion principle.

arXiv:1003.0213•Physical Review Letters•Jun 8, 2010•48 citations

Interaction between polarons and analogous effects in polarized Fermi gases

S. Giraud, R. Combescot

We consider an imbalanced mixture of two different ultracold Fermi gases, which are strongly interacting. Calling spin-down the minority component and spin-up the majority component, the limit of small relative density $x={n}_{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}/{n}_{\ensuremath{\uparrow}}$ is usually considered as a gas of noninteracting polarons. This allows us to calculate, in the expansion of the total energy of the system in powers of $x$, the terms proportional to $x$ (corresponding to the binding energy of the polaron) and to ${x}^{5/3}$ (corresponding to the kinetic energy of the polaron Fermi sea). We investigate in this paper terms physically due to an interaction between polarons and which are proportional to ${x}^{2}$ and ${x}^{7/3}$. We find three such terms. The first one corresponds to the overlap between the clouds dressing two polarons. The two other ones are due to the modification of the single polaron binding energy caused by the nonzero density of polarons. The second term is due to the restriction of the polaron momentum by the Fermi sea formed by the other polarons. The last one results from the modification of the spin-up Fermi sea brought by the other polarons. The calculation of all these terms is made at the simplest level of a single particle-hole excitation. It is performed for all the possible interaction strengths within the stability range of the polaron. At unitarity the last two terms give a fairly weak contribution while the first one is strong and leads to a marked disagreement with Monte Carlo results. The possible origins of this discrepancy are discussed.

arXiv:1109.5585•Physical Review A•Jan 4, 2012•13 citations

Polarons, dressed molecules and itinerant ferromagnetism in ultracold Fermi gases

Pietro Massignan, Matteo Zaccanti, Georg M Bruun

In this review, we discuss the properties of a few impurity atoms immersed in a gas of ultracold fermions--the so-called Fermi polaron problem. On one hand, this many-body system is appealing because it can be described almost exactly with simple diagrammatic and/or variational theoretical approaches. On the other, it provides a quantitatively reliable insight into the phase diagram of strongly interacting population-imbalanced quantum mixtures. In particular, we show that the polaron problem can be applied to the study of itinerant ferromagnetism, a long-standing problem in quantum mechanics.

arXiv:1309.0219•Reports on Progress in Physics•Feb 19, 2014•457 citations

Strongly-interacting Fermi gases with population imbalance

Mark Ku

This thesis presents a theoretical study of strongly-interacting Fermi systems with population imbalance, which is motivated by some differences in cold atoms experiments. We calculate the energy of a single fermion interacting resonantly with a Fermi sea of different species fermions in anisotropic traps, and show that finite particle numbers and the trap geometry impact the phase structure and the critical polarization, the limit of resonance superfluidity in traps. Our findings contribute to understanding some experimental discrepancies as finite-size and confinement effects. For an imbalanced gas in the uniform system, we calculate the energy of adding an impurity, and construct the equation of state of the partially-polarized normal Fermi liquid. Finally, we study the properties of a spin-down polaron in a trapped gas containing arbitrary numbers of spin-up and spin-down fermions, and derive a self-consistent equation for the polaron energy.

•Jan 1, 2009•0 citations

Observation of Fermi Polarons in a Tunable Fermi Liquid of Ultracold Atoms

Ariel Sommer, Cheng-Hsun Wu, Martin W. Zwierlein +1 more

We have observed Fermi polarons, dressed spin-down impurities in a spin-up Fermi sea of ultracold atoms. The polaron manifests itself as a narrow peak in the impurities’ rf spectrum that emerges from a broad incoherent background. We determine the polaron energy and the quasiparticle residue for various interaction strengths around a Feshbach resonance. At a critical interaction, we observe the transition from polaronic to molecular binding. Here, the imbalanced Fermi liquid undergoes a phase transition into a Bose liquid, coexisting with a Fermi sea.

APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Meeting Abstracts•Jun 1, 2009•0 citations

Observation of Fermi Polarons in a Tunable Fermi Liquid of Ultracold Atoms

André Schirotzek, Cheng-Hsun Wu, Ariel Sommer +1 more

We have observed Fermi polarons, dressed spin-down impurities in a spin-up Fermi sea of ultracold atoms. The polaron manifests itself as a narrow peak in the impurities' rf spectrum that emerges from a broad incoherent background. We determine the polaron energy and the quasiparticle residue for various interaction strengths around a Feshbach resonance. At a critical interaction, we observe the transition from polaronic to molecular binding. Here, the imbalanced Fermi liquid undergoes a phase transition into a Bose liquid, coexisting with a Fermi sea.

arXiv:0902.3021•Physical Review Letters•Jun 8, 2009•635 citations
Recent experiments on imbalanced Fermi gases in ultracold atomic systems have raised interest in the physics of an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea, the so-called Fermi polaron. In particular, the internal energy of a Fermi polaron gives the threshold for a fully polarized normal phase. When partially polarized, the normal phase can be described quantitatively as a Fermi liquid of dilute polarons. We discuss a simple theory devised to describe dilute Fermi-polaron ensembles and show that an exact formula can be obtained for the dominant interaction between polarons. It is expressed solely in terms of a single polaron parameter. The physics of this interaction is identified as a signature of the Pauli exclusion principle. The comparison of this theory with experimental results shows a remarkable agreement up to the vicinity of the transition to the superfluid phase.
Recent experiments on imbalanced Fermi gases have raised interest in the physics of an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea, the so-called Fermi polaron. In this Letter, a simple theory is devised to describe dilute Fermi-polaron ensembles corresponding to the normal phase of an imbalanced Fermi gas. An exact formula is obtained for the dominant interaction between polarons, expressed solely in terms of a single-polaron parameter. The physics of this interaction is identified as a signature of the Pauli exclusion principle.
We consider an imbalanced mixture of two different ultracold Fermi gases, which are strongly interacting. Calling spin-down the minority component and spin-up the majority component, the limit of small relative density $x={n}_{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}/{n}_{\ensuremath{\uparrow}}$ is usually considered as a gas of noninteracting polarons. This allows us to calculate, in the expansion of the total energy of the system in powers of xxx, the terms proportional to xxx (corresponding to the binding energy of the polaron) and to x5/3{x}^{5/3}x5/3 (corresponding to the kinetic energy of the polaron Fermi sea). We investigate in this paper terms physically due to an interaction between polarons and which are proportional to x2{x}^{2}x2 and x7/3{x}^{7/3}x7/3. We find three such terms. The first one corresponds to the overlap between the clouds dressing two polarons. The two other ones are due to the modification of the single polaron binding energy caused by the nonzero density of polarons. The second term is due to the restriction of the polaron momentum by the Fermi sea formed by the other polarons. The last one results from the modification of the spin-up Fermi sea brought by the other polarons. The calculation of all these terms is made at the simplest level of a single particle-hole excitation. It is performed for all the possible interaction strengths within the stability range of the polaron. At unitarity the last two terms give a fairly weak contribution while the first one is strong and leads to a marked disagreement with Monte Carlo results. The possible origins of this discrepancy are discussed.
In this review, we discuss the properties of a few impurity atoms immersed in a gas of ultracold fermions--the so-called Fermi polaron problem. On one hand, this many-body system is appealing because it can be described almost exactly with simple diagrammatic and/or variational theoretical approaches. On the other, it provides a quantitatively reliable insight into the phase diagram of strongly interacting population-imbalanced quantum mixtures. In particular, we show that the polaron problem can be applied to the study of itinerant ferromagnetism, a long-standing problem in quantum mechanics.
This thesis presents a theoretical study of strongly-interacting Fermi systems with population imbalance, which is motivated by some differences in cold atoms experiments. We calculate the energy of a single fermion interacting resonantly with a Fermi sea of different species fermions in anisotropic traps, and show that finite particle numbers and the trap geometry impact the phase structure and the critical polarization, the limit of resonance superfluidity in traps. Our findings contribute to understanding some experimental discrepancies as finite-size and confinement effects. For an imbalanced gas in the uniform system, we calculate the energy of adding an impurity, and construct the equation of state of the partially-polarized normal Fermi liquid. Finally, we study the properties of a spin-down polaron in a trapped gas containing arbitrary numbers of spin-up and spin-down fermions, and derive a self-consistent equation for the polaron energy.
We have observed Fermi polarons, dressed spin-down impurities in a spin-up Fermi sea of ultracold atoms. The polaron manifests itself as a narrow peak in the impurities’ rf spectrum that emerges from a broad incoherent background. We determine the polaron energy and the quasiparticle residue for various interaction strengths around a Feshbach resonance. At a critical interaction, we observe the transition from polaronic to molecular binding. Here, the imbalanced Fermi liquid undergoes a phase transition into a Bose liquid, coexisting with a Fermi sea.
We have observed Fermi polarons, dressed spin-down impurities in a spin-up Fermi sea of ultracold atoms. The polaron manifests itself as a narrow peak in the impurities' rf spectrum that emerges from a broad incoherent background. We determine the polaron energy and the quasiparticle residue for various interaction strengths around a Feshbach resonance. At a critical interaction, we observe the transition from polaronic to molecular binding. Here, the imbalanced Fermi liquid undergoes a phase transition into a Bose liquid, coexisting with a Fermi sea.