Spin-orbit coupling adjusting topological superfluid of mass-imbalanced Fermi gas

Topological superfluid state is different from the normal superfluid one due to the excitation energy gap on the boundary. How to obtain the topological superfluid state by using spin-orbit coupling to control the s-waves paired mass-imbalanced Fermi gas is a recent novel topic. In this paper, we study the topological superfluid phase diagram of two-dimensional mass-imbalanced Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling at zero temperature. We find that due to the competition among mass imbalance, pairing interaction and spin-orbit coupling, there is a double-well structure in the thermodynamic potential, which affects the properties of the ground state of the system. We comprehensively give the phase diagrams of the system on the plane of spin-orbit coupling and chemical potential, and the phase diagrams on the plane of the reduced mass ratio and two-body binding energy. This study not only points out the stable region of topological superfluid state of mass-imbalanced Fermi gas, but also provides a detailed theoretical basis for better observation of topological superfluid state in experiments.     

BCS-BEC crossover in 2D Fermi gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We present a systematic theoretical study of the BCS-BEC crossover in two-dimensional Fermi gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC). By solving the exact two-body problem in the presence of an attractive short-range interaction we show that the SOC enhances the formation of the bound state: the binding energy E(B) and effective mass m(B) of the bound state grows along with the increase of the SOC. For the many-body problem, even at weak attraction, a dilute Fermi gas can evolve from a BCS superfluid state to a Bose condensation of molecules when the SOC becomes comparable to the Fermi momentum. The ground-state properties and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature are studied, and analytical results are obtained in various limits. For large SOC, the BKT transition temperature recovers that for a Bose gas with an effective mass m(B). We find that the condensate and superfluid densities have distinct behaviors in the presence of SOC: the condensate density is generally enhanced by the SOC due to the increase of the molecule binding; the superfluid density is suppressed because of the nontrivial molecule effective mass m(B).     

Vortex lattices in a rotating Fermi superfluid in the BCS–BEC crossover with many Landau levels

We present an explicit analytical analysis of the ground state of vortex lattice structure, based on a minimization of the generalized Gross–Pitaevskii energy functional in a trapped rotating Fermi superfluid gas. By a Bogoliubov-like transformation we find that the coarse-grained average of the atomic density varies as inverted parabola in three dimensional cases; the Fermi superfluid in the BEC regime enters into the lowest Landau level at fast rotation, in which the vortices form an almost regular triangular lattice over a central region and the vortex lattice is expanded along the radial direction in the outer region; the fluid in the unitarity and BCS regimes occupies many low-lying Landau levels, in which a trapped gas with a triangular vortex lattice has a superfluid core surrounded by a normal gas. The calculation is qualitatively consistent with recent numerical and experimental data both in the vortex lattice structure and vortex numbers and in the density profiles versus the stirring frequency in the whole BCS–BEC crossover.     

Spin-orbit coupled Fermi gases across a Feshbach resonance

In this Letter we study both ground state properties and the superfluid transition temperature of a spin-1/2 Fermi gas across a Feshbach resonance with a synthetic spin-orbit coupling, using the mean-field theory and the exact solution of two-body problem. We show that a strong spin-orbit coupling can significantly enhance the pairing gap for negative scattering length a(s), due to increased density of state at Fermi surface. Strong spin-orbit coupling can also significantly enhance the superfluid transition temperature Tc to a sizable fraction of Fermi temperature when a(s) ≤ 0, while it suppresses Tc slightly for positive a(s). The interaction energy and pair size at resonance are also discussed.     

Condensate fraction of asymmetric three-component Fermi gas

In this paper, we investigate the condensate fraction （CF） of fermionic pairs in the BCS-BEC crossover for three- component Fermi gas with both asymmetric interactions and unequal chemical potentials in two-dimensional free space. By using the functional-path-integral method, we have analytically derived the number densities and bound-state energy, from which the off-diagonal long-range order is analyzed in terms of the asymptotic behavior of the two-body density matrix. The explicit formula of CF is obtained as a function of the bound-state energy and population imbalance. It is demonstrated that the CF spectrum with respect to the bound-state energy can be used to characterize the quantum phase transition between the two kinds of Sarma phases as well as the transition from three-component to two-component superfluid. Moreover we obtain the same analytic formula of CF in the BCS superfluid phase as that of homogeneous Fermi gas with equal chemical potentials.     

Opposite effect of spin-orbit coupling on condensation and superfluidity

We investigate the effects of Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the condensed density and superfluid density tensor of a two-component Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover at zero temperature. In anisotropic three dimensions (3D), we find that SOC has an opposite effect on condensation (enhanced) and superfluidity (suppressed in the SOC direction), and this effect becomes most pronounced for very weak interactions and the SOC strength being larger than a characteristic value. Furthermore, as functions of SOC strength, the condensed density changes monotonically for all interaction parameters, while the superfluid density has a minimum when the interaction parameter is below a critical value. We also discuss the isotropic two-dimensional case where analytical expressions for the gap and number equations are obtained and the same phenomena are found as that of the 3D case.     

Spin-orbit coupling in Bose-Einstein condensate and degenerate Fermi gases

We review our recent experimental realization and investigation of a spin orbit （SO） coupled Bose Einstein condensate （BEC） and quantum degenerate Fermi gas. By using two counter-propagathlg Ranlan lasers and controlling the different frequency of two R,aman lasers to engineer the atom light interaction, we first study the SO coupling in BEC. Then we study SO coupling in Fermi gas. We, observe the spin dephasing in spin dynamics and momentum distribution asymmetry of the equilibrium state as halhnarks of SO coupling in a Fermi gas. To clearly reveal the, property of SO coupling Fermi gas, we also study the momentmn-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy which characterizes the energy momentum dispersion and spin composition of the quantum states. We observe the change of errmion surfaces in different helieity branches with different atomic density, which indicates that a Lifshitz transition of the Fermi surface topology change can be found by further cooling the system. At last, we study the momentum-resolved Raman spectroscopy of an ultracoht Fermi gas.     

Probing anisotropic superfluidity in atomic Fermi gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Motivated by the prospect of realizing a Fermi gas with a synthetic non-Abelian gauge field, we investigate theoretically a strongly interacting Fermi gas in the presence of a Rashba spin-orbit coupling. As the twofold spin degeneracy is lifted by spin-orbit interaction, bound pairs with mixed singlet and triplet components emerge, leading to an anisotropic superfluid. We calculate the relevant physical quantities, such as the momentum distribution, the single-particle spectral function, and the spin structure factor, that characterize the system.     

Formation of a vortex lattice in a rotating BCS Fermi gas

We investigate theoretically the formation of a vortex lattice in a superfluid two-spin component Fermi gas in a rotating harmonic trap, in a BCS-type regime of condensed non-bosonic pairs. Our analytical solution of the superfluid hydrodynamic equations, both for the 2D BCS equation of state and for the 3D unitary quantum gas, predicts that the vortex free gas is subject to a dynamic instability for fast enough rotation. With a numerical solution of the full time dependent BCS equations in a 2D model, we confirm the existence of this dynamic instability and we show that it leads to the formation of a regular pattern of quantum vortices in the gas.     

Tuning the tricritical point with spin-orbit coupling in polarized fermionic condensates

We investigate a two-component atomic Fermi gas with population imbalance in the presence of Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling (SOC). As a competition between SOC and population imbalance, the finite-temperature phase diagram reveals a large variety of new features, including the expanding of the superfluid state regime and the shrinking of both the phase separation and the normal regimes. For sufficiently strong SOC, the phase separation region disappears, giving way to the superfluid state. We find that the tricritical point moves toward a regime of low temperature, high magnetic field, and high polarization as the SOC increases.     

Unitarity Schrödinger Equation and Ground State Properties of the Finite Trapped Superfluid Fermi Gases in a BCS-BEC Crossover

On the basis of quantum hydrodynamical equations we derive a unitarity Schrödinger equation of a finite trapped superfluid Fermi gas valid in the whole interaction regime from BCS superfluid to BEC. This equation is just the Ginzburg-Laudau-type equation for the fermionic Cooper pairs in the BCS side, the Gross-Pitaevskii-type equation for the bosonic dimers in the BEC side, and a unitarity equation for a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid in the unitarity limit. By taking a modified Gauss-like trial wave function, we solve the unitarity Schrödinger equation, calculate the energy, chemical potential, sizes and profiles of the ground-state condensate, and discuss the properties of the ground state in the entire BCS-BEC crossover regimes.     

一维光晶格中超流Fermi气体基态性质的研究

研究了一维光晶格中超流Fermi气体基态解的性质.在平均场理论框架下,利用超流Fermi体系中原子间相互作用能与晶格势能相互平衡的条件,得到了一维光晶格中超流Fermi气体在整个BEC-BCS跨越区的一组基态解,给出了基态的原子数密度空间分布、总原子数和能量.进一步对系统从BEC端转变到BCS端时的基态解性质进行了深入分析和对比.结果表明,一维光晶格中超流Fermi气体基态分布具有一些特殊的性质,由于Fermi压力,相比而言超流Fermi气体在BCS端的基态原子数密度空间分布较为扩展,平均能量明显偏高.     

超流费米气体中两维孤子的动力学

我们利用解析和数值的方法,研究从Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer(BCS)超流到玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC)渡越的过程里超流费米气体中两维(2D)孤子的形成和演化.基于超流流体力学方程,在准二维和长波近似下,推导描述弱非线性激发带正色散项的Kadomtsev-Petviashvili方程;给出整个BCS-BEC渡越的2D孤子解,以及数值求解孤子在囚禁势中的演化.数值结果显示由于Snake(横向)不稳定性,大振幅的暗孤子会衰变为大量涡旋-反涡旋对,并且这个不稳定性在不同超流区域不同.     

Tunneling and Self-Trapping of Superfluid Fermi Gases in BCS-BEC Crossover

We investigate tunneling and self-trapping of superfluid Fermi gases under a two-mode ansatz in different regimes of the crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). Starting from a generalized equation of state, we derive the coupled equations of relative atom-pair number and relative phase about superfluid Fermi gases in a double-well system and then classify the different oscillation behaviors by the
tunneling strength and interactions between atoms. Tunneling and self-trapping behaviors are considered in the whole BCS-BEC crossover in the case of a symmetric double-well potential. We show that the nonlinear interaction between atoms makes the self-trapping more easily realized in BCS regime than in the BEC regime and stability analysis is also given.     

Vortex arrays in a rotating superfluid Fermi gas

The behavior of a dilute two-component neutral superfluid Fermi gas subjected to rotation is investigated within the context of a weak-coupling BCS theory. The microscopic properties at finite temperature are obtained by iterating the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations to self-consistency. In the model, alkali atoms are strongly confined in quasi-two-dimensional traps produced by a deep one-dimensional optical lattice. The lattice depth significantly enhances the critical transition temperature and the critical rotation frequency at which the superfluidity ceases. As the rotation frequency increases, the triangular vortex arrays become increasingly irregular, indicating a quantum melting transition.     

Phase diagram of a strongly interacting polarized Fermi gas in one dimension

Based on the integrable Gaudin model and local density approximation, we discuss the ground state of a one-dimensional trapped Fermi gas with imbalanced spin population, for an arbitrary attractive interaction. A phase separation state, with a polarized superfluid core immersed in an unpolarized superfluid shell, emerges below a critical spin polarization. Above it, coexistence of polarized superfluid matter and a fully polarized normal gas is favored. These two exotic states could be realized experimentally in highly elongated atomic traps, and diagnosed by measuring the lowest density compressional mode. We identify the polarized superfluid as having an Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov structure, and predict the resulting mode frequency as a function of the spin polarization.     

Superconducting instability of a non-centrosymmetric system

The Fermi gas approach to the weak-coupling superconductivity in the non-centrosymmetric systems lead to a conclusion of an approximately spin-orbit coupling independent critical temperature of the singlet states as well as the triplet states defined by the order parameter aligned with the antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling vector. We indicate that the above results follow from a simplified approximation of a density of states by a constant Fermi surface value. Such a scenario does not properly account for the spin-split quasiparticle energy spectrum and reduces the spin-orbit coupling influence on superconductivity to the bare pair-breaking effect of a lifted spin degeneracy. Applying the tight-binding model, which captures the primary features of the spin-split energy band, i.e., its enhanced width and the spin-orbit coupling induced redistribution of the spectral weights in the density of states, we calculate the critical temperature of a non-centrosymmetric superconductor. We report a general tendency of the critical temperature to be suppressed by the antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling. We indicate that, the monotonic decrease of the critical temperature may be altered by the spin-orbit coupling induced van Hove singularities which, when driven to the Fermi level, generate maxima in the phase diagram. Extending our considerations to the intermediate-coupling superconductivity we point out that the spin-orbit coupling induced change of the critical temperature depends on the structure of the electronic energy band and both – the strength and symmetry of the pair potential. Finally, we discuss the mixed singlet-triplet state superconducting instability and establish conditions concerning the symmetry of the singlet and triplet counterparts as well as the range of the spin-orbit coupling energy which make such a phase transition possible.     

Evolution from BCS to BEC superfluidity in p-wave Fermi gases

We consider the evolution of superfluid properties of a three-dimensional p-wave Fermi gas from a weak coupling Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to strong coupling Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) limit as a function of scattering volume. At zero temperature, we show that a quantum phase transition occurs for p-wave systems, unlike the s-wave case where the BCS to BEC evolution is just a crossover. Near the critical temperature, we derive a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory and show that the GL coherence length is generally anisotropic due to the p-wave nature of the order parameter, and becomes isotropic only in the BEC limit.     

Self-trapping and Macroscopic Tunnelling of Superfluid Fermi Gases in Multi-well Potentials

We study the tunnelling dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases trapped in multi-well system along the BEC-BCS crossover. Within the hydrodynamical model and by using the multi-mode approximation, the self-trapping dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases in multi-well system are obtained numerically. We find that the self-trapping to diffusion transition strongly depends on the well number. When the well number is less than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BEC side than that on the BCS side. However, when the well number is larger than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BCS side instead of the BEC side. Furthermore, by considering a superfluid of ⁴⁰K atoms, we obtain the zero-mode and π-mode Josephson frequencies of coherent atomic oscillations in double-well system. It is noteworthy that the Josephson mode, especially, the existence of π-mode frequency strongly depends on the atoms number on the BCS side.     

Microscopic structure of a vortex line in a dilute superfluid fermi gas

The microscopic properties of a single vortex in a dilute superfluid Fermi gas at zero temperature are examined within the framework of self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory. Using only physical parameters as input, we study the pair potential, the density, the energy, and the current distribution. Comparison of the numerical results with analytical expressions clearly indicates that the energy of the vortex is governed by the zero-temperature BCS coherence length.