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arXiv · 1012.2885

Observation of shock waves in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

James Joseph·John E. Thomas·Manas Kulkarni·Alexander G. Abanov
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Abstract

We study collisions between two strongly interacting atomic Fermi gas clouds. We observe exotic nonlinear hydrodynamic behavior, distinguished by the formation of a very sharp and stable density peak as the clouds collide and subsequent evolution into a box-like shape. We model the nonlinear dynamics of these collisions using quasi-1D hydrodynamic equations. Our simulations of the time-dependent density profiles agree very well with the data and provide clear evidence of shock wave formation in this universal quantum hydrodynamic system.

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James Joseph, John E. Thomas, Manas Kulkarni, Alexander G. Abanov. 2010-12-13. Observation of shock waves in a strongly interacting Fermi gas. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.106.150401

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