Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 51: Quantum Gases: Fermions
Q 51.6: Talk
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 15:15–15:30, E 001
Phase diagram of a spin-imbalanced Fermi mixture in 1D — •Ann Sophie C. Rittner, Yean-an Liao, Tobias Paprotta, and Randall G. Hulet — Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251,
The search for the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase, a polarized superfluid with a spatially varying order parameter, has generated large interest in both the condensed matter and cold atoms communities. To date, there has been only indirect experimental evidence of FFLO in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5. In a 1D polarized Fermi gas, the FFLO phase is predicted to occupy a large region of the phase diagram (G. Orso, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 070402 (2007)). We have implemented a 2D optical lattice in order to explore the phase diagram of an imbalanced spin mixture of 6Li. In-situ density distributions show a partially polarized region at the center of the cloud surrounded by an either fully polarized Fermi gas or an unpolarized superfluid shell depending on the polarization of the cloud. The density profiles are quantitatively well-described by a non-zero temperature Bethe ansatz calculation and can be used to extract the 1d phase diagram of the imbalanced 1d Fermi gas (Y.-a. Liao et al., arXiv:0912.0092). Moreover, the quantitative agreement of experiment and theory provides evidence for the existence of the elusive FFLO phase in this system.