Randy Hulet
Physics and Astronomy Dept., Rice University, Houston, USA
Date
11 November 2009
Host
Tilman Esslinger
Title
Fermion Pairing with Ultracold Atoms
Abstract
Ultracold atomic fermions have the potential for simulating unsolved models of condensed matter physics, and perhaps, to uncover unexpected new physics. These systems are clean and well-characterized, and physical parameters such as interaction strength, temperature, density, and dimensionality are readily tunable. I will discuss experiments on the pairing of 6Li, a composite fermion, where tunable interactions enable the realization of the BEC-BCS crossover. We have investigated twocomponent Fermi gases with unequal spin populations, and find phase separation between a fully paired core and the surrounding unpaired atoms. We have also determined the phase diagram of a spin-imbalanced Fermi gas in 1D, which is predicted to exhibit the elusive FFLO (Fulde-Ferrell, Larkin-Ovchinnikov) modulated superfluid state.