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arXiv:cond-mat/0510675 · Physical Review A

Spin-correlation functions in ultracold paired atomic-fermion systems: Sum rules, self-consistent approximations, and mean fields

Zhenhua Yu, Gordon Baym

Published Jun 1, 2006• 54 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The spin response functions measured in multicomponent fermion gases by means of rf transitions between hyperfine states are strongly constrained by the symmetry of the interatomic interactions. Such constraints are reflected in the spin $f$-sum rule that the response functions must obey. In particular, only if the effective interactions are not fully invariant in $SU(2)$ spin space, are the response functions sensitive to mean field and pairing effects. We demonstrate, via a self-consistent calculation of the spin-spin correlation function within the framework of Hartree-Fock-BCS theory, how one can derive a correlation function explicitly obeying the $f$-sum rule. By contrast, simple one-loop approximations to the spin response functions do not satisfy the sum rule, except in special cases. As we show, the emergence of a second peak at higher frequency in the rf spectrum, as observed in a recent experiment in trapped $^{6}\mathrm{Li}$, can be understood as the contribution from the paired fermions, with a shift of the peak from the normal particle response proportional to the square of the BCS pairing gap.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.73.063601

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The spin response functions measured in multicomponent fermion gases by means of rf transitions between hyperfine states are strongly constrained by the symmetry of the interatomic interactions. Such constraints are reflected in the spin fff-sum rule that the response functions must obey. In particular, only if the effective interactions are not fully invariant in SU(2)SU(2)SU(2) spin space, are the response functions sensitive to mean field and pairing effects. We demonstrate, via a self-consistent calculation of the spin-spin correlation function within the framework of Hartree-Fock-BCS theory, how one can derive a correlation function explicitly obeying the fff-sum rule. By contrast, simple one-loop approximations to the spin response functions do not satisfy the sum rule, except in special cases. As we show, the emergence of a second peak at higher frequency in the rf spectrum, as observed in a recent experiment in trapped 6Li^{6}\mathrm{Li}6Li, can be understood as the contribution from the paired fermions, with a shift of the peak from the normal particle response proportional to the square of the BCS pairing gap.
The last chapter focuses on radio-frequency spectroscopy of multi component fermion gases. Rf experiments of 6Li and 40K are first reviewed. We show that rf experiments essentially measure spin correlation functions, and internal symmetries of the interparticle interactions constrain the rf spectrum through sum rules. We self-consistently generate the spin correlation functions for 6Li within Hartree-Fock-BCS approximation. Our calculation reproduces the mean field shift observed in experiments for normal gases, and confirms that a second peak detected at higher frequencies in the rf spectrum at sufficiently low temperatures arises from paired fermions. We define a mean frequency shift by the sum rules, and show that it is proportional to the square of BCS pairing gap. The discrepancy between the mean shift and the peak frequency shift observed in experiment for the condensed phase lies in the broad width of the rf spectrum function.
We present a calculation of the spectral functions and the associated rf response of ultracold fermionic atoms near a Feshbach resonance. The single-particle spectra are peaked at energies that can be modeled by a modified BCS dispersion. However, even at very low temperatures their width is comparable to their energy except for a small region around the dispersion minimum. The structure of the excitation spectrum of the unitary gas at infinite scattering length agrees with recent momentum-resolved rf spectra near the critical temperature. A detailed comparison is made with momentum integrated, locally resolved rf spectra of the unitary gas at arbitrary temperatures and shows very good agreement between theory and experiment. The pair size defined from the width of these spectra is found to coincide with that obtained from the leading gradient corrections to the effective-field theory of the superfluid.
The radio-frequency spectrum of the fermions in the unitary limit at finite temperatures is characterized by the sum-rule relations. We consider a simple picture where the atoms are removed by radio-frequency excitations from the strongly interacting states into a state of negligible interaction. We calculate the moments of the response function in the range of temperature 0.08ϵF<T<0.8ϵF0.08{ϵ}_{F}<T<0.8{ϵ}_{F}0.08ϵF​<T<0.8ϵF​ using auxiliary field Monte Carlo technique in which continuum auxiliary fields with a density-dependent shift are used. We estimate the effects of superfluid pairing from the clock shift. We find a qualitative agreement with the pairing gap--pseudogap transition behavior. We also find within the quasiparticle picture that in order for the gap to come into quantitative agreement with the previously known value at T=0T=0T=0, the effective mass has to be ${m}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}\ensuremath{\sim}1.43m$. Finally, we discuss implications for the adiabatic sweep of the resonant magnetic field.
We propose a new method of detecting the onset of superfluidity in a two-component ultracold fermionic gas of atoms governed by an attractive short-range interaction. By studying the two-body correlation functions we find that a measurement of the momentum distribution of the density and spin-response functions allows one to access separately the normal and anomalous densities. The change in sign at low momentum transfer of the normal-ordered part of the density response function signals the transition between a BEC and a BCS regime, characterized by small and large pairs, respectively. This change in sign of the density response function represents an unambiguous signature of the BEC-to-BCS crossover. Spin rotational symmetry breaking due to the magnetic field, if observed, can be used to validate the one-channel model.
Ultracold atomic gases provide an ideal system with which to study fundamental many-body physics.Exhibiting universal interactions in clean and controllable environments, long-used simple models as well as more exotic models can now be realized.The interplay between theory and experiment is therefore very active, and, in this thesis, I will detail several works, both exact analytic results and numerical calculations, which have impacts on current experiments.I begin with an introduction to the field including a brief discussion of experiments, the microscopic model of two species of interacting fermions, the BCS-BEC crossover and an overview of the various phases of atomic Fermi gases.I then describe the various results of my theoretical investigations, which are divided into five chapters.First, I describe radio frequency (RF) spectroscopy experiments and how they probe the single-particle spectral function.This leads to my results on an exact feature of the spectral lineshape, a universal large-momentum structure which exists for all states of interacting Fermi systems and has been verified in recent angle-resolved RF experiments.Second, I focus on gases which have a normal Fermi liquid ground state and show that their lineshape exhibits a characteristic jump discontinuity.I illustrate this Fermi surface singularity and the previously mentioned universal large momentum tail with explicit calculations.Third, I turn to the low energy structure of the single-particle spectral function in the superfluid state.I argue that sharp low energy quasiparticle excitations exist across the BCS-BEC crossover using a general argument that includes the interaction of fermions with the low-energy collective mode.This is illustrated with an explicit calculation within an approximation scheme.Fourth, I address the trap-induced inhomogeneity and use a Bogoliubov-deGennes analysis to test if a simple local density approximation (LDA) can provide an adequate description of a spin imbalanced Fermi system.Finally, I discuss dynamics of atomic gases motivated by a recent experiment in which two spin-polarized clouds are allowed to collide with each other.Despite the underlying attractive interactions, the clouds are seen to bounce off of each other.Using a hydrodynamic description, I argue that the short and intermediate time dynamics reflects a metastable state in which the effective interaction is repulsive.It is my hope that the work presented in this thesis can be used to gain key insights which inspire future endeavors.6.2 Time dependence of the center-of-mass positions zσ of the two spin clouds at unitarity for an initial separation z↑ (t = 0) = R z , z↓ (t = 0) = -R z using the upper branch energy functional and damping γ = 1.Red (upper) and blue (lower) curves denote the different spin species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 6.3 The upper branch energy functional obtained from lowest order constraint variational method.(a), energy as a function of the polarization P for various values of k F a s as indicated in the figure.(b), energy as a function of the interaction parameter k F a s for various values of polarization P as indicated in the figure.(c), phase diagram of the interacting two-component Fermi gases.The two vertical red dashed lines indicates the separation between three phases.For 1/(k F a s ) > 1.124, the system is in the Fermi liquid (FL) phase.For 1.124 > 1/(k F a s ) > 0.91, the system is in the partially polarized phase (PP) and for 1/(k F a s ) < 0.91, the system is fully polarized. . . . . .74 6.4 (Color online) Time dependence of the center-of-mass positions zσ of the two spin clouds for k F (0)a s = 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 6.5 (Color online) Time dependence of the center-of-mass positions zσ of the two spin clouds for k F (0)a s = 0.5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .