arXiv subjects

Hui Hu

Publications and source records attributed to Hui Hu.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Static structure factor of a strongly correlated Fermi gas at large momenta

We theoretically investigate the static structure factor of an interacting Fermi gas near the BEC-BCS crossover at large momenta. Due to short-range two-body interactions, we predict that the structure factor of unlike spin correlations $S_{\uparrow\downarrow}(q)$ falls off as $1/q$ in a universal scaling region with large momentum $\hbar q$ and large scattering length. The scaling coefficient is determined by the celebrated Tan's contact parameter, which links the short-range behavior of many-body systems to their universal thermodynamic properties. By implementing this new Tan relation together with the random-phase approximation and the virial expansion theory in various limiting cases, we show how to calculate $S_{\uparrow\downarrow}(q)$ at zero and finite temperatures for arbitrary interaction strengths, at momentum transfer higher than the Fermi momentum. Our results provide a way to experimentally confirm a new Tan relation and to accurately measure the value of contact parameter.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Three attractively interacting fermions in a harmonic trap: Exact solution, ferromagnetism, and high-temperature thermodynamics

Three fermions with strongly repulsive interactions in a spherical harmonic trap, constitute the simplest nontrivial system that can exhibit the onset of itinerant ferromagnetism. Here, we present exact solutions for three trapped, attractively interacting fermions near a Feshbach resonance. We analyze energy levels on the upper branch of the resonance where the atomic interaction is effectively repulsive. When the s-wave scattering length a is sufficiently positive, three fully polarized fermions are energetically stable against a single spin-flip, indicating the possibility of itinerant ferromagnetism, as inferred in the recent experiment. We also investigate the high-temperature thermodynamics of a strongly repulsive or attractive Fermi gas using a quantum virial expansion. The second and third virial coefficients are calculated. The resulting equations of state can be tested in future quantitative experimental measurements at high temperatures and can provide a useful benchmark for quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Exact few-body results for strongly correlated quantum gases in two dimensions

The study of strongly correlated quantum gases in two dimensions has important ramifications for understanding many intriguing pheomena in solid materials, such as high-$T_{c}$ superconductivity and the fractional quantum Hall effect. However, theoretical methods are plagued by the existence of significant quantum fluctuations. Here, we present two- and three-body exact solutions for both fermions and bosons trapped in a two-dimensional harmonic potential, with an arbitrary $s$-wave scattering length. These few-particle solutions link in a natural way to the high-temperature properties of many-particle systems via a quantum virial expansion. As a concrete example, using the energy spectrum of few fermions, we calculate the second and third virial coefficients of a strongly interacting Fermi gas in two dimensions, and consequently investigate its high-temperature thermodynamics. Our thermodynamic results may be useful for ongoing experiments on two-dimensional Fermi gases. These exact results also provide an unbiased benchmark for quantum Monte Carlo simulations of two-dimensional Fermi gases at high temperatures.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Virial expansion for a strongly correlated Fermi gas

Using a high temperature virial expansion, we present a controllable study of the thermodynamics of strongly correlated Fermi gases near the BEC-BCS crossover region. We propose a practical way to determine the expansion coefficients for both harmonically trapped and homogeneous cases, and calculate the third order coefficient $b_{3}(T)$ at finite temperatures $T$. At resonance, a $T$-independent coefficient $b_{3,\infty}^{\hom}\approx-0.29095295$ is determined in free space. These results are compared with a recent thermodynamic measurement of $^{6}$Li atoms, at temperatures below the degeneracy temperature, and with Monte Carlo simulations.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2008

Comparative study of strong coupling theories of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity

We present a systematic comparison of the most recent thermodynamic measurements of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity with predictions from strong coupling theories and quantum Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The accuracy of the experimental data, of the order of a few percent, allows a precise test of different many-body approaches. We find that a Nozieres and Schmitt-Rink treatment of fluctuations is in excellent agreement with the experimental data and available MC calculations at unitarity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Finite temperature phase diagram of a spin-polarized ultracold Fermi gas in a highly elongated harmonic trap

We investigate the finite temperature properties of an ultracold atomic Fermi gas with spin population imbalance in a highly elongated harmonic trap. Previous studies at zero temperature showed that the gas stays in an exotic spatially inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superfluid state at the trap center; while moving to the edge, the system changes into either a non-polarized Bardeen-Cooper-Schriffer superfluid ($P P_c$), depending on the smallness of the spin polarization $P$, relative to a critical value $P_c$. In this work, we show how these two phase-separation phases evolve with increasing temperature, and thereby construct a finite temperature phase diagram. For typical interactions, we find that the exotic FFLO phase survives below one-tenth of Fermi degeneracy temperature, which seems to be accessible in the current experiment. The density profile, equation of state, and specific heat of the polarized system have been calculated and discussed in detail. Our results are useful for the on-going experiment at Rice University on the search for FFLO states in quasi-one-dimensional polarized Fermi gases.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Multi-component strongly attractive Fermi gas: a color superconductor in a one-dimensional harmonic trap

Recent advances in ultra-cold atomic Fermi gases make it possible to achieve a fermionic superfluid with multiple spin components. In this context, any mean-field description is expected to fail, owing to the presence of tightly bound clusters or molecules that consist of more than two particles. Here we present a detailed study of a strongly interacting multi-component Fermi gas in a highly elongated or quasi-one-dimensional harmonic trap, which could be readily obtained in experiment. By using the exact Bethe ansatz solution and a local density approximation treatment of the harmonic trap, we investigate the equation of state of the multi-component Fermi gas in both a homogeneous and trapped environment, as well as the density profiles and low-energy collective modes. The binding energy of multi-component bound clusters is also given. We show that there is a peak in the collective mode frequency at the critical density for a deconfining transition to a many-body state that is analogous to the quark color superconductor state expected in neutron stars.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Probing two-fluid hydrodynamics in a trapped Fermi superfluid at unitarity

We develop a variational approach to calculate the density response function at finite temperatures of the lowest-lying two-fluid modes in a trapped two-component Fermi superfluid close to a Feshbach resonance. The out-of-phase oscillations, which are the analogue in trapped gases of second sound in uniform superfluids, have so far not been observed in cold-atom experiments. At unitarity, we show that these modes are observable at finite temperatures via two-photon Bragg scattering, whose spectrum is related to the imaginary part of density response function. This provides direct evidence for superfluidity and a promising way to test microscopic results for thermodynamics at unitarity.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Variational theory of two-fluid hydrodynamic modes at unitarity

We present the results of a variational calculation of the frequencies of the low-lying Landau two-fluid hydrodynamic modes in a trapped Fermi superfluid gas at unitarity. Landau's two-fluid hydrodynamics is expected to be the correct theory of Fermi superfluids at finite temperatures close to unitarity, where strong interactions give rise to collisional hydrodynamics. Two-fluid hydrodynamics predicts the existence of in-phase modes in which the superfluid and normal fluid components oscillate together, as well as out-of-phase modes where the two components move against each other. We prove that at unitarity, the dipole and breathing in-phase modes are locally isentropic. Their frequencies are independent of temperature and are the same above and below the superfluid transition. The out-of-phase modes, in contrast, are strongly dependent on temperature and hence, can be used to test the thermodynamic properties and superfluid density of a Fermi gas at unitarity. We give numerical results for the frequencies of these new modes as function of temperature in an isotropic trap at unitarity.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states in one-dimensional spin-polarized ultracold atomic Fermi gases

We present a systematic study of quantum phases in a one-dimensional spin-polarized Fermi gas. Three comparative theoretical methods are used to explore the phase diagram at zero temperature: the mean-field theory with either an order parameter in a single-plane-wave form or a self-consistently determined order parameter using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, as well as the exact soluble Bethe ansatz method. We find that a spatially inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase, which lies between the fully paired BCS state and the fully polarized normal state, dominates most of the phase diagram of a uniform gas. The phase transition from the BCS state to the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase is of second order, and therefore there are no phase separation states in one-dimensional homogeneous polarized gases. This is in sharp contrast to the three-dimensional situation, where a phase separation regime is predicted to occupy a very large space in the phase diagram. We conjecture that the prediction of the dominance of the phase separation phases in three dimension could be an artifact of the non-self-consistent mean-field approximation, which is heavily used in the study of three-dimensional polarized Fermi gases. We consider also the effect of a harmonic trapping potential on the phase diagram, and find that in this case the trap generally leads to phase separation, in accord with the experimental observations for a trapped gas in three dimension. We finally investigate the local fermionic density of states of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov ansatz. A two-energy-gap structure is shown up, which could be used as an experimental probe of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Universal thermodynamics of strongly interacting Fermi gases

Strongly interacting Fermi gases are of great current interest. Not only are fermions the most common particles in the universe, but they are also thought to have a universal thermodynamic behavior for strong interactions \cite{heiselberg,carlson,ho}. Recent experiments on ultra-cold Fermi gases provide an unprecedented opportunity to test universality in the laboratory \cite{hara,thomas,partridge,stewart,luo}. In principle this allows - for example - the interior properties of hot, dense neutron stars to be investigated on earth. Here we carry out a detailed test of this prediction. We analyze results from three ultra-cold fermion experiments involving two completely distinct atomic species in different kinds of atomic trap environments \cite{partridge,stewart,luo}. The data is compared with the predictions of a recent strong interaction theory \cite{hldepl,hldpra}. Excellent agreement is obtained, with no adjustable parameters. By extrapolating to zero temperature, we show that the experimental measurements yield a many-body parameter} $\mathbf{β\simeq-0.59\pm.07}$, \textbf{describing the universal energy of strongly interacting Fermi gases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Density fingerprint of giant vortices in Fermi gases near a Feshbach resonance

The structure of multiply quantized or giant vortex states in atomic Fermi gases across a Feshbach resonance is studied within the context of self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory. The particle density profile of vortices with $κ>1$ flux quanta is calculated. Owing to $κ$ discrete branches of vortex core bound states, inside the core the density oscillates as a function of the distance from the vortex line and displays a non-monotoic dependence on the interaction strengths, in marked contrast to the singly quantized case, in which the density depletes monotonically. This feature, never reported so far, can make a direct visualization of the giant vortices in atomic Fermi gases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Mean field thermodynamics of a spin-polarized spherically trapped Fermi gas at unitarity

We calculate the mean-field thermodynamics of a spherically trapped Fermi gas with unequal spin populations in the unitarity limit, comparing results from the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations and the local density approximation. We follow the usual mean-field decoupling in deriving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations and set up an efficient and accurate method for solving these equations. In the local density approximation we consider locally homogeneous solutions, with a slowly varying order parameter. With a large particle number these two approximation schemes give rise to essentially the same results for various thermodynamic quantities, including the density profiles. This excellent agreement strongly indicates that the small oscillation of order parameters near the edge of trap, sometimes interpreted as spatially inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states in previous studies of Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, is a finite size effect. We find that a bimodal structure emerges in the density profile of the minority spin state at finite temperature, as observed in experiments. The superfluid transition temperature as a function of the population imbalance is determined, and is shown to be consistent with recent experimental measurements. The temperature dependence of the equation of state is discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Visualization of vortex bound states in polarized Fermi gases at unitarity

We analyse theoretically a single vortex in 3D trapped atomic Fermi gases with population polarization near a broad Feshbach resonance. Above a critical polarization the Andreev-like bound states inside the core become occupied for the majority component. As a result, the local density difference at the core center acquires a sudden rise at low temperautres. This provides a visualization of the lowest bound state within the absorption imaging technique. As the polarization increases, the core expands gradually, and correspondingly, the energy of the lowest bound state decreases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

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 phase structure of one-dimensional trapped Fermi gases with imbalanced spin populations for arbitrary attractive interactions. A phase separation state, with a polarized superfluid core immersed in an unpolarized superfluid shell, emerges below a critical spin polarization. Above it, a 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 FFLO structure, and predict the resulting mode frequency as a function of the spin polarization.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

BCS-BEC crossover in an asymmetric two-component Fermi gas

We discuss the superfluid phase transition of a strongly interacting Fermi gas with unequal (asymmetric) chemical potentials in two pairing hyperfine states, and map out its phase diagram near the BCS-BEC crossover. Our approach includes the fluctuation contributions of {}``preformed Cooper pairs'' to the thermodynamic potential at finite temperature. We show that, below a critical difference in chemical potentials between species, a normal gas is unstable towards the formation of either a finite-momentum paired Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov superconducting phase or a uniform superfluid, depending on the asymmetry and interaction strengths. We determine the value of critical chemical potential mismatch, and find good qualitative agreement with a recent measurement by Zwierlein \textit{et al.} {[}Science \textbf{311}, 492 (2006){]}.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Mean field phase diagrams of imbalanced Fermi gases near a Feshbach resonance

We propose phase diagrams for an imbalanced (unequal number of atoms or Fermi surface in two pairing hyperfine states) gas of atomic fermions near a broad Feshbach resonance using mean field theory. Particularly, in the plane of interaction and polarization we determine the region for a phase separation phase composed of normal and superfluid components. We compare our prediction of phase boundaries with the recent measurment, and find a good qualitative agreement.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Equation of state of a superfluid Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover

We present a theory for a superfluid Fermi gas near the BCS-BEC crossover, including pairing fluctuation contributions to the free energy similar to that considered by Nozieres and Schmitt-Rink for the normal phase. In the strong coupling limit, our theory is able to recover the Bogoliubov theory of a weakly interacting Bose gas with a molecular scattering length very close to the known exact result. We compare our results with recent Quantum Monte Carlo simulations both for the ground state and at finite temperature. Excellent agreement is found for all interaction strengths where simulation results are available.

cond-mat.supr-con↗