Dipolar drag in bilayer harmonically trapped gases

We consider two separated pancake-shaped trapped gases interacting with a dipolar (either magnetic or electric) force. We study how the center of mass motion propagates from one cloud to the other as a consequence of the long-range nature of the interaction. The corresponding dynamics is fixed by the frequency difference between the in-phase and the out-of-phase center of mass modes of the two clouds, whose dependence on the dipolar interaction strength and the cloud separation is explicitly investigated. We discuss Fermi gases in the degenerate as well as in the classical limit and comment on the case of Bose-Einstein condensed gases.     

Tomographic rf spectroscopy of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity

We present spatially resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy of a trapped Fermi gas with resonant interactions and observe a spectral gap at low temperatures. The spatial distribution of the spectral response of the trapped gas is obtained using in situ phase-contrast imaging and 3D image reconstruction. At the lowest temperature, the homogeneous rf spectrum shows an asymmetric excitation line shape with a peak at 0.48(4)epsilonF with respect to the free atomic line, where epsilonF is the local Fermi energy.     

Observation of anomalous spin segregation in a trapped Fermi gas

We report the observation of spin segregation, i.e., time-dependent separation of the spin density profiles of two spin states, in a trapped, coherently prepared Fermi gas of 6Li with a magnetically tunable scattering length a12 close to zero. For |a12| approximately = 5 bohr, as the cloud profiles evolve, the measured difference in the densities at the cloud center increases in 200 ms from 0 to approximately = 60% of the initial mean density and changes sign with a12. The data are in disagreement in both amplitude and temporal evolution with a spin-wave theory for a Fermi gas. In contrast, for a Bose gas, an analogous theory has successfully described previous observations of spin segregation. The observed segregated atomic density profiles are far from equilibrium, yet they persist for approximately = 5 s, long compared to the axial trapping period of 6.9 ms. We find the zero crossing in a12=0, where spin segregation ceases, at 527.5+/-0.2 G.     

Critical rotational frequency for superfluid fermionic gases across a Feshbach resonance

We present a method to determine the critical rotational frequencies for superfluidity of both uniform and trapped Fermi gases across a wide Feshbach resonance. It is found that as one approaches the resonance from the BCS side, beyond a critical scattering length, pairing is so robust that superfluidity cannot be destroyed by rotation. Moreover, the critical frequency has a sequence of jumps revealing the appearance of Landau levels, which are particularly prominent for systems up to a few thousand particles. For rotational frequency below an ultimate critical frequency, defined to be the lowest frequency at which the center of the cloud goes normal, a trapped gas has a superfluid core surrounded by a normal gas, as seen in recent experiments (C. H. Schunck, cond-mat/0607298).     

Attractive Fermi gases with unequal spin populations in highly elongated traps

We investigate two-component attractive Fermi gases with imbalanced spin populations in trapped one-dimensional configurations. The ground state properties are determined with the local density approximation, starting from the exact Bethe-ansatz equations for the homogeneous case. We predict that the atoms are distributed according to a two-shell structure: a partially polarized phase in the center of the trap and either a fully paired or a fully polarized phase in the wings. The partially polarized core is expected to be a superfluid of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov type. The size of the cloud as well as the critical spin polarization needed to suppress the fully paired shell are calculated as a function of the coupling strength.     

冷原子的三维图像模拟

提出了一种用于精确模拟冷原子云的三维图像方案,这个方案比先前通过探测激光的方法所获得的二维图像更加直观和立体。该研究实现了冷原子云的模拟,捕获原子的数量约为108。原子云是几何三维形状,R_x=1.06 mm, Ry＝1.06 mm, R_z＝0.57 mm, 具有不同半轴长度的三轴椭圆体。     

Surface tension in unitary fermi gases with population imbalance

We study the effects of surface tension between normal and superfluid regions of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity. We find that surface tension causes notable distortions in the shape of large aspect ratio clouds. Including these distortions in our theories resolves many of the apparent discrepancies among different experiments and between theory and experiments.     

Double transfer through Dirac points in a tunable honeycomb optical lattice

We report on Bloch-Zener oscillations of an ultracold Fermi gas in a tunable honeycomb lattice. The quasi-momentum distribution of the atoms is measured after sequentially passing through two Dirac points. We observe a double-peak feature in the transferred fraction to the second band, both as a function of the band gap at the Dirac points and the quasi-momentum of the trajectory. Our results are in good agreement with a simple analytical model based on two successive Landau-Zener transitions. Owing to the variation of the potential gradient over the cloud size, coherent Stückelberg oscillations are not visible in our measurements. This effect of the harmonic confinement is confirmed by a numerical simulation of the dynamics of a trapped 2D system.     

Sarma phase in trapped unbalanced fermi gases

We consider a trapped unbalanced Fermi gas at nonzero temperatures where the superfluid Sarma phase is stable. We determine, in particular, the phase boundaries between the superfluid, normal, and phase-separated regions of the trapped unbalanced Fermi mixture. We show that the physics of the Sarma phase is sufficient to understand the recent observations of Zwierlein et al. [Science 311, 492 (2006); Nature (London) 442, 54 (2006)] and indicate how the apparent contradictions between this experiment and the experiment of Partridge et al. [Science 311, 503 (2006)] may be resolved.     

Phase diagram and deformed phase separation for a trapped Fermi gas with population imbalance and BCS pairing interaction

We study the phase separated state of an ultracold atomic Fermi gas confined in a three-dimensional quantum harmonic trap with a BCS pairing interaction. Examining various finite-temperature phase diagrams, we investigate the interplay between the filling of the quantum trap energy levels and the pairing energy. We find that a low (high) filling leads to a large (small) critical population imbalance for the superfluid/normal transition, together with a fully (partially) polarized normal part. We also show that the decrease of the density leads to a changeover of the shape of the superfluid core from an equipotential form to a deformed one. Moreover, we clarify the intrinsic mechanisms that lead to the deformation, providing a unified scenario for phase separation and deformation in a trapped Fermi gas, allowing for a possible interpretation of the apparently controversial experimental findings.     

Individual and center-of-mass resonances in the motional spectrum of an electron cloud in a Penning trap

We have examined experimentally the motional spectrum of an electron cloud confined in a Penning trap. When the axial oscillation is excited by a radio frequency field the resonance exhibits a double structure. Both components depend differently on the number of trapped electrons and have different shape and width. We conclude that one of them corresponds to the excitation of the individual electrons while the other is the center-of-mass mode of the cloud. The threshold behaviour of the center-of-mass resonance suggests that it is a parametric instability of a Mathieu type equation of motion. Received 11 July 2001 and Received in final form 12 November 2001     

Splitting between quadrupole modes of dilute quantum gas in a two-dimensional anisotropic trap

We consider quadrupole excitations of quasi-two-dimensional interacting quantum gas in an anisotropic harmonic oscillator potential at zero temperature. Using the time-dependent variational approach, we calculate a few low-lying collective excitation frequencies of a two-dimensional anisotropic Bose gas. Within the energy weighted sum-rule approach, we derive a general dispersion relation of two quadrupole excitations of a two-dimensional deformed trapped quantum gas. This dispersion relation is valid for both statistics. We show that the quadrupole excitation frequencies obtained from both methods are exactly the same. Using this general dispersion relation, we also calculate the quadrupole frequencies of a two-dimensional unpolarized Fermi gas in an anisotropic trap. For both cases, we obtain analytic expressions for the quadrupole frequencies and the splitting between them for arbitrary value of trap deformation. This splitting decreases with increasing interaction strength for both statistics. For a two-dimensional anisotropic Fermi gas, the two quadrupole frequencies and the splitting between them become independent of the particle number within the Thomas-Fermi approach. Received 21 September 2001 and Received in final form 9 December 2001     

Rotating Fermi gases in an anharmonic trap

Motivated by recent experiments on rotating Bose-Einstein condensates, we investigate a rotating, polarized Fermi gas trapped in an anharmonic potential. We apply a semiclassical expansion of the density of states in order to determine how the thermodynamic properties depend on the rotation frequency. The accuracy of the semiclassical approximation is tested and shown to be sufficient for describing typical experiments. At zero temperature, rotating the gas above a given frequency Ω_DO leads to a ‘donut’-shaped cloud which is analogous to the hole found in two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. The free expansion of the gas after suddenly turning off the trap is considered and characterized by the time and rotation frequency dependence of the aspect ratio. Temperature effects are also taken into account and both low- and high-temperature expansions are presented for the relevant thermodynamical quantities. In the high-temperature regime a virial theorem approach is used to study the delicate interplay between rotation and anharmonicity.     

Non-local separable solutions of two interacting particles in a harmonic trap

We calculate the energy levels of two particles trapped in a harmonic potential. The actual two-body potential, assumed to be spherically symmetric, is replaced by a projective operator (non-local separable potential) to determine the energy levels in a closed form. This approach overcomes the limitations of the regularized Fermi pseudopotential when the characteristic length of the two-body interaction potential is of the order of the size of the harmonic trap. In addition, we recover the results obtained with the Fermi pseudopotential when the length of the interaction is much smaller than the size of the trap.     

Dynamical Properties of the Unitary Fermi Gas: Collective Modes and Shock Waves

We discuss the unitary Fermi gas made of dilute and ultracold atoms with an infinite s-wave inter-atomic scattering length. First we introduce an efficient Thomas–Fermi–von Weizsacker density functional which describes accurately various static properties of the unitary Fermi gas trapped by an external potential. Then, the sound velocity and the collective frequencies of oscillations in a harmonic trap are derived from extended superfluid hydrodynamic equations which are the Euler–Lagrange equations of a Thomas–Fermi–von Weizsacker action functional. Finally, we show that this amazing Fermi gas supports supersonic and subsonic shock waves.     

Stochastic Variational Approach to Few-Body Problems in Condensed Matter Physics

The stochastic variational method is a powerful approach to solve few-body problems. The application of the stochastic variational approach to few-body problems in condensed matter physics is presented. The examples include calculation of energy spectra of atoms in magnetic field, confined atoms and trapped Fermi gases.     

Evolution of the normal state of a strongly interacting Fermi gas from a pseudogap phase to a molecular Bose gas

Wave-vector resolved radio frequency spectroscopy data for an ultracold trapped Fermi gas are reported for several couplings at T(c), and extensively analyzed in terms of a pairing-fluctuation theory. We map the evolution of a strongly interacting Fermi gas from the pseudogap phase into a fully gapped molecular Bose gas as a function of the interaction strength, which is marked by a rapid disappearance of a remnant Fermi surface in the single-particle dispersion. We also show that our theory of a pseudogap phase is consistent with a recent experimental observation as well as with quantum Monte Carlo data of thermodynamic quantities of a unitary Fermi gas above T(c).     

Crossover from a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate to a degenerate Fermi gas

We demonstrate a reversible conversion of a 6Li2 molecular Bose-Einstein condensate to a degenerate Fermi gas of atoms by adiabatically crossing a Feshbach resonance. By optical in situ imaging, we observe a smooth change of the cloud size in the crossover regime. On the Feshbach resonance, the ensemble is strongly interacting and the measured cloud size is 75(7)% of the one of a noninteracting zero-temperature Fermi gas. The high condensate fraction of more than 90% and the adiabatic crossover suggest our Fermi gas to be cold enough to form a superfluid.     

Insulating behavior of a trapped ideal Fermi gas

We investigate theoretically and experimentally the center-of-mass motion of an ideal Fermi gas in a combined periodic and harmonic potential. We find a crossover from a conducting to an insulating regime as the Fermi energy moves from the first Bloch band into the band gap of the lattice. The conducting regime is characterized by an oscillation of the cloud about the potential minimum, while in the insulating case the center of mass remains on one side of the potential.     

Abnormal phenomenon of source-drain current of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure device under UV/visible light irradiation

We report an abnormal phenomenon that the source-drain current (I_D) of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure devices decreases under visible light irradiation. When the incident light wavelength is 390 nm, the photon energy is less than the band gaps of GaN and AlGaN whereas it can causes an increase of I_D. Based on the UV light irradiation, a decrease of I_D can still be observed when turning on the visible light. We speculate that this abnormal phenomenon is related to the surface barrier height, the unionized donor-like surface states below the surface Fermi level and the ionized donor-like surface states above the surface Fermi level. For visible light, its photon energy is less than the surface barrier height of the AlGaN layer. The electrons bound in the donor-like surface states below the Fermi level are excited and trapped by the ionized donor-like surface states between the Fermi level and the conduction band of AlGaN. The electrons trapped in ionized donor-like surface states show a long relaxation time, and the newly ionized donor-like surface states below the surface Fermi level are filled with electrons from the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel at AlGaN/GaN interface, which causes the decrease of I_D. For the UV light, when its photon energy is larger than the surface barrier height of the AlGaN layer, electrons in the donor-like surface states below the Fermi level are excited to the conduction band and then drift into the 2DEG channel quickly, which cause the increase of I_D.