Resonance Superfluidity in a Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas

• Authors: S. Kokkelmans , M. Holland , R. Walser , M. Chiofalo
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

We consider the superfluid phase transition that arises when a Feshbach resonance pairing occurs in a dilute Fermi gas. This is related to the phenomenon of superconductivity described by the seminal Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. In superconductivity, the phase transition is caused by a coupling between pairs of electrons within the medium. This coupling is perturbative and leads to a critical temperature T_c which is small compared to the Fermi temperature T_F. Even high-T_c superconductors typically have a critical temperature which is two orders of magnitude below T_F. Here we describe a resonance pairing mechanism in a quantum degenerate gas of potassium (^{40} K) atoms which leads to superfluidity in a novel regime - a regime that promises the unique opportunity to experimentally study the cross-over from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer phase of weakly-coupled fermions to the Bose-Einstein condensate of strongly-bound composite bosons. We find that the transition to a superfluid phase is possible at the high critical temperature of about 0.5 T_F. It should be straightforward to verify this prediction, since these temperatures can already be achieved experimentally.

Keywords

EN

03.75.Fi; 67.60.-g; 74.20.-z

Discipline

• 67.60.-g: Mixtures of 3He and 4He
• 74.20.-z: Theories and models of superconducting state

• Publisher: Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Acta Physica Polonica A
• Year: 2002
• Volume: 101
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 387-397

Dates

published

2002-03

received

2001-06-20

Contributors

author

S. Kokkelmans

• JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, U.S.A.

author

M. Holland

• JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, U.S.A.

author

R. Walser

• JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, U.S.A.

author

M. Chiofalo

• Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy

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Identifiers

DOI

10.12693/APhysPolA.101.387