Physics – Condensed Matter – Other Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2007-06-22
Physics
Condensed Matter
Other Condensed Matter
Revised and abridged version accepted for publication in Rev. Mod. Phys.: 63 pages, 36 figures
Scientific paper
10.1103/RevModPhys.80.1215
The physics of quantum degenerate Fermi gases in uniform as well as in harmonically trapped configurations is reviewed from a theoretical perspective. Emphasis is given to the effect of interactions which play a crucial role, bringing the gas into a superfluid phase at low temperature. In these dilute systems interactions are characterized by a single parameter, the s-wave scattering length, whose value can be tuned using an external magnetic field near a Feshbach resonance. The BCS limit of ordinary Fermi superfluidity, the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of dimers and the unitary limit of large scattering length are important regimes exhibited by interacting Fermi gases. In particular the BEC and the unitary regimes are characterized by a high value of the superfluid critical temperature, of the order of the Fermi temperature. Different physical properties are discussed, including the density profiles and the energy of the ground-state configurations, the momentum distribution, the fraction of condensed pairs, collective oscillations and pair breaking effects, the expansion of the gas, the main thermodynamic properties, the behavior in the presence of optical lattices and the signatures of superfluidity, such as the existence of quantized vortices, the quenching of the moment of inertia and the consequences of spin polarization. Various theoretical approaches are considered, ranging from the mean-field description of the BCS-BEC crossover to non-perturbative methods based on quantum Monte Carlo techniques. A major goal of the review is to compare the theoretical predictions with the available experimental results.
Giorgini Stefano
Pitaevskii Lev P.
Stringari Sandro
No associations
LandOfFree
Theory of ultracold Fermi gases does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Theory of ultracold Fermi gases, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Theory of ultracold Fermi gases will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-188126