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arXiv:physics/0303094 · Physical Review Letters

Superfluid Fermi Gases with Large Scattering Length

Joseph Carlson, S.-Y. Chang, Vijay R. Pandharipande, Kevin E. Schmidt

Published Jul 31, 2003• 555 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report quantum Monte Carlo calculations of superfluid Fermi gases with short-range two-body attractive interactions with infinite scattering length. The energy of such gases is estimated to be (0.44+/-0.01) times that of the noninteracting gas, and their pairing gap is approximately twice the energy per particle.
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.91.050401

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We report results of quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the ground state of dilute Fermi gases with attractive short-range two-body interactions. The strength of the interaction is varied to study different pairing regimes which are characterized by the product of the sss-wave scattering length and the Fermi wave vector, akFa{k}_{F}akF​. We report results for the ground-state energy, the pairing gap $\ensuremath{\Delta}$, and the quasiparticle spectrum. In the weak-coupling regime, $1∕a{k}_{F}<\ensuremath{-}1$, we obtain Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid and the energy gap $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ is much smaller than the Fermi gas energy EFG{E}_{\mathrm{FG}}EFG​. When a>0a>0a>0, the interaction is strong enough to form bound molecules with energy Emol{E}_{\mathrm{mol}}Emol​. For $1∕a{k}_{F}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}0.5$, we find that weakly interacting composite bosons are formed in the superfluid gas with $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ and gas energy per particle approaching $\ensuremath{\mid}{E}_{\mathrm{mol}}\ensuremath{\mid}∕2$. In this region, we seem to have Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of molecules. The behavior of the energy and the gap in the BCS-to-BEC transition region, $\ensuremath{-}0.5<1∕a{k}_{F}<0.5$, is discussed.
Dilute Fermi gases with large scattering lengths are intriguing physical systems which are just now becoming accessible in laboratory experiments with cold trapped atoms. Their properties are closely related to those of the dilute neutron‐rich matter which may be present in the surface of neutron stars. Fermi systems with such strong short‐range attractive forces lie between traditional BCS theories with small gaps and those where the fermions are tightly bound into pairs, yielding composite bosons. We discuss the Quantum Monte Carlo methods used to study such systems, and report results for the ground‐state energy, the superfluid gap, and other properties. In particular, we compare results with those of neutron matter at subnuclear densities.
The zero-temperature pairing gap is a fundamental property of interacting Fermions, providing a crucial test of many-body theories in strong coupling. We analyze recent cold-atom experiments on imbalanced Fermi systems using Quantum Monte Carlo results for the superfluid and normal phases. Through this analysis we extract, for the first time, the experimental zero-temperature pairing gap in the fully paired superfluid state at unitarity where the two-body scattering length is infinite. We find that the zero-temperature pairing gap is greater than 0.4 times the Fermi energy E(F), with a preferred value of (0.45+/-0.05) E(F). The ratio of the pairing gap to the Fermi Energy is larger here than in any other Fermi system measured to date.
We calculate Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) state of a unitary Fermi gas of atoms interacting with the finite-ranged Jost-Kohn potential which has been recently shown to account for the resonant interactions [2019 {\rm J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.} {\bf 52}, 165004]. Using exact scattering solution of the potential, we derive two-body T{\mathbf T}T-matrix element which is employed to construct the BCS Hamiltonian in momentum space. We present results on the energy- and range-dependence of the pairing gap and superfluid density and the range-dependence of the chemical potential for a wide variation of the scattering length including the unitarity regime. In the zero range limit our calculated gap at the Fermi energy is found to be nearly equal to that calculated with contact potential. The mean gap averaged over the full width at half maximum of the gap function in the zero range and unitarity limits is found to be 0.42EF0.42 E_F0.42EF​ which is quite close to the recent result of the quantum Monte Carlo simulation [2018 {\rm Phys. Rev.A} {\bf 97}, 013601]. The chemical potential in the zero range limit also agrees well with that for the contact potential.
Quantum degenerate Fermi gases can be created in the laboratories using alkali atoms. These gases can be in different regimes of density and interaction strength and provide an ideal test bed for the basic properties of the quantum and statistical mechanics. Also some astrophysical objects such as neutron stars can be idealized as interacting fermion systems. In this thesis work, the ground state properties of dilute Fermi gases with attractive short range two-body interactions are reported. Main results of this work are produced by application of quantum Monte Carlo methods. We introduce variational nodal structure to the trial wave function in order to deal with the fermion sign problem. We consider the possibility of Cooper pairing between fermions of different species. The strength of the interaction is varied to study different pairing regimes which are characterized by the product of the s-wave scattering length a and the Fermi wave vector kF. We also review some of the conventional variational methods such as the Lowest Order Constrained Variational which is suitable for Fermi fluids without pairing correlation. The ground state energy, pairing gap Δ, quasi-particle spectrum, two-body distribution function, and momentum distribution of the superfluid were studied with greater accuracy using ab initio quantum Monte Carlo techniques. In the case of the two component Fermi fluid, we find that in the weak coupling regime, 1/akF < -1, the system is a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer type superfluid and the energy gap Δ is much smaller than the Fermi gas energy EFG. For 1/akF ≥ 0:5 we find that weakly interacting composite bosons or molecules are formed in the superfluid gas with Δ and gas energy per particle approaching half of the molecular energy jEmolj=2. In this region we seem to have Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules. The behavior of the energy, chemical potential and energy gap in the transition region, -0:5 < 1/akF < 0:5, is discussed. The study is extended to the three component Fermi fluid in relation to the spin polarized alkali gases and color superconductivity of the quark matter. Unlike the two component fluids, zero potential range limit cannot be reached without causing collapse of the system. We also study the scaling behavior of the three-body system. We calculate the threshold of the three-body bound state as a function of the potential range and strength. For the many-body systems, we find that ground state can be achieved by broken symmetry pairing. However, the restored symmetry pairing scenario in the strongly interacting regime is not conclusive. We also discuss the pairing gap as well as the structural properties such as two-body distribution functions.
Ground-state energies and superfluid gaps are calculated for degenerate Fermi systems interacting via long attractive scattering lengths such as cold atomic gases, neutron, and nuclear matter. In the intermediate region of densities, where the interparticle spacing $(\ensuremath{\sim}{1/k}_{F})$ is longer than the range of the interaction but shorter than the scattering length, the superfluid gaps and the energy per particle are found to be proportional to the Fermi energy and thus differ from the dilute and high-density limits. The attractive potential increase linearly with the spin-isospin or hyperspin statistical factor such that, e.g., symmetric nuclear matter undergoes spinodal decomposition and collapses whereas neutron matter and Fermionic atomic gases with two hyperspin states are mechanically stable in the intermediate density region. The regions of spinodal instabilities in the resulting phase diagram are reduced and do not prevent a superfluid transition.