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arXiv:cond-mat/0608282 · Physical Review A

Thermodynamics of the BCS-BEC crossover

R. Haussmann, Walter Rantner, S. Cerrito, W. Zwerger

Published Feb 8, 2007• 340 citations
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Abstract

We present a self-consistent theory for the thermodynamics of the BCS-BEC crossover in the normal and superfluid phase which is both conserving and gapless. It is based on the variational many-body formalism developed by Luttinger and Ward and by DeDominicis and Martin. Truncating the exact functional for the entropy to that obtained within a ladder approximation, the resulting self-consistent integral equations for the normal and anomalous Green functions are solved numerically for arbitrary coupling. The critical temperature, the equation of state, and the entropy are determined as a function of the dimensionless parameter $1∕{k}_{F}a$, which controls the crossover from the BCS regime of extended pairs to the BEC regime of tightly bound molecules. The tightly bound pairs turn out to be described by a Popov-type approximation for a dilute, repulsive Bose gas. Even though our approximation does not capture the critical behavior near the continuous superfluid transition, our results provide a consistent picture for the complete crossover thermodynamics which compares well with recent numerical and field-theoretic approaches at the unitarity point.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.75.023610

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The superfluid density is a fundamental quantity describing the response to a rotation as well as in two-fluid collisional hydrodynamics. We present extensive calculations of the superfluid density ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of a uniform superfluid Fermi gas at finite temperatures. We include strong-coupling or fluctuation effects on these quantities within a Gaussian approximation. We also incorporate the same fluctuation effects into the BCS single-particle excitations described by the superfluid order parameter $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ and Fermi chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$, using the Nozi\`eres--Schmitt-Rink approximation. This treatment is shown to be necessary for consistent treatment of ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ over the entire BCS-BEC crossover. We also calculate the condensate fraction Nc{N}_{c}Nc​ as a function of the temperature, a quantity which is quite different from the superfluid density ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$. We show that the mean-field expression for the condensate fraction Nc{N}_{c}Nc​ is a good approximation even in the strong-coupling BEC regime. Our numerical results show how ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ and Nc{N}_{c}Nc​ depend on temperature, from the weak-coupling BCS region to the BEC region of tightly bound Cooper pair molecules. In a companion paper [Phys. Rev. A 74, 063626 (2006)], we derive an equivalent expression for ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ from the thermodynamic potential, which exhibits the role of the pairing fluctuations in a more explicit manner.
We derive an expression for the superfluid density of a uniform two-component Fermi gas through the BCS-BEC crossover in terms of the thermodynamic potential in the presence of an imposed superfluid flow. Treating the pairing fluctuations in a Gaussian approximation following the approach of Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink, we use this definition of ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ to obtain an explicit result which is valid at finite temperatures and over the full BCS-BEC crossover. It is crucial that the BCS gap $\ensuremath{\Delta}$, the chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$, and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ all include the effect of fluctuations at the same level in a self-consistent manner. We show that the normal fluid density ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}\ensuremath{\equiv}n\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ naturally separates into a sum of contributions from Fermi BCS quasiparticles $({\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}^{F})$ and Bose collective modes $({\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}^{B})$. The expression for ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}^{F}$ is just Landau's formula for a BCS Fermi superfluid but now calculated over the BCS-BEC crossover. The expression for the Bose contribution ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}^{B}$ is more complicated and only reduces to Landau's formula for a Bose superfluid in the extreme BEC limit, where all the fermions have formed stable Bose pairs and the Bogoliubov excitations of the associated molecular Bose condensate are undamped. In a companion paper, we present numerical calculations of ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$ using an expression equivalent to the one derived in this paper, over the BCS-BEC crossover, including unitarity, and at finite temperatures.
We develop a systematic theoretical approach to incorporate the effects of a static white-noise disorder into the BCS-BEC crossover near the critical temperature (TcT_cTc​) of the superfluid transition. Starting from a functional-integral formulation in momentum-frequency space, we derive an effective thermodynamic potential that fully accounts for Gaussian fluctuations of the order-parameter field and its coupling to the disorder potential. The effective action, expanded to second order in both the disorder potential and the bosonic field, naturally involves third- and fourth-order terms arising from the logarithmic expansion near TcT_cTc​. By providing a controlled description of pairing fluctuations and disorder effects, this formalism correctly recovers the well-established BCS and BEC limits. This ensures a consistent physical foundation for analyzing the entire BCS-BEC crossover, effectively anchoring the intermediate regime between these two analytically robust endpoints. The approach applies equally to continuum and lattice systems and provides a natural framework for generalizations to multiband models.
The diagrammatic ttt-matrix approximation has often been adopted to describe a dilute Fermi gas. This approximation, originally considered by V. M. Galitskii (Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 34, 151 (1958) [Sov. Phys. JETP 7, 104 (1958)]) for a repulsive interparticle interaction, was later widely utilized for an attractive Fermi gas to describe the BCS-BEC crossover from strongly overlapping Cooper pairs in weak coupling to nonoverlapping composite bosons in strong coupling. Several variants of the ttt-matrix approximation have been considered in the literature, which are distinguished by the degree of self-consistency allowed in the building blocks of the diagrammatic structure. Here, we perform a systematic and comparative study of all possible variants on the degree of self-consistency for the ttt-matrix approximation in an attractive Fermi gas, which enables us to confront their outcomes for thermodynamic and dynamical quantities on the same footing in an unbiased way. For definiteness, only the normal phase above the superfluid critical temperature is considered. The dispute that can be raised in this context, about the adequateness of introducing progressive degrees of self-consistency over and above the non-self-consistent ttt-matrix approximation for an attractive Fermi gas, parallels the recent interest in the literature in assessing the importance of various degrees of self-consistency in the context of semiconductors and insulators.
The continuous crossover between a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)-type superfluid of fermion pairs and a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of tightly bound bosonic molecules can be attributed to the spontaneous breaking of global U(1)U(1)U(1) gauge symmetry which underlies both quantum condensation phenomena. Recently much attention has been paid to this problem, since Feshbach resonances allow for an experimental implementation of crossover physics in cold fermion gases. The strong interactions close to resonance call for an analysis beyond Mean Field Theory. We develop a systematic functional integral approach for the description of this phenomenon. Starting from a Yukawa-type atom-molecule model, a symmetry analysis allows to both construct the equation of state and to classify the thermodynamic phases in a unified way. The onset of superfluidity is signalled by the emergence of a massless Goldstone mode associated with the broken continuous U(1) symmetry. Beyond Mean Field, we include fluctuations of the molecule field self-consistently via the solution of suitable Schwinger-Dyson equations. The phase diagram is computed, and a variety of universal features are established. A new form of crossover from an exactly solvable narrow resonance limit to broad resonances or pointlike interactions is found. At low temperature our results agree well with quantum Monte Carlo simulations and recent experiments. Our approach is further developed in the frame of functional renormalization group equations. While the effective bosonic theory in the BEC regime shows the characteristics of a Bogoliubov theory for small temperatures, the phase transition is of second order.