E. D. Kuhnle

Universal Behavior of Pair Correlations in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

We show that short-range pair correlations in a strongly interacting Fermi gas follow a simple universal law described by Tans relations. This is achieved through measurements of the static structure factor which displays a universal scaling proportional to the ratio of Tans contact to the momentum C/q. Bragg spectroscopy of ultracold 6Li atoms from a periodic optical potential is used to measure the structure factor for a wide range of momenta and interaction strengths, providing broad confirmation of this universal law. We calibrate our Bragg spectra using the f-sum rule, which is found to improve the accuracy of the structure factor measurement.

Observation of Efimov resonances in a mixture with extreme mass imbalance.

We observe two consecutive heteronuclear Efimov resonances in an ultracold Li-Cs mixture by measuring three-body loss coefficients as a function of magnetic field near a Feshbach resonance. The first resonance is detected at a scattering length of a_((0))=-320(10)a_((0)), corresponding to ∼7(∼3) times the Li-Cs (Cs-Cs) van der Waals range. The second resonance appears at 5.8(1.0)a_((0)), close to the unitarity-limited regime at the sample temperature of 450 nK. Indication of a third resonance is found in the atom loss spectra. The scaling of the resonance positions is close to the predicted universal scaling value of 4.9 for zero temperature. Deviations from universality might be caused by finite-range and temperature effects, as well as magnetic field-dependent Cs-Cs interactions.

Bragg spectroscopy of a strongly interacting Fermi gas.

We present a comprehensive study of the Bose-Einstein condensate to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BEC-BCS) crossover in fermionic 6Li using Bragg spectroscopy. A smooth transition from molecular to atomic spectra is observed with a clear signature of pairing at and above unitarity. These spectra probe the dynamic and static structure factors of the gas and provide a direct link to two-body correlations. We have characterized these correlations and measured their density dependence across the broad Feshbach resonance at 834 G.

Crossover From 2D to 3D in a Weakly Interacting Fermi Gas

We have studied the transition from two to three dimensions in a low temperature weakly interacting 6Li Fermi gas. Below a critical atom number N(2D) only the lowest transverse vibrational state of a highly anisotropic oblate trapping potential is occupied and the gas is two dimensional. Above N(2D) the Fermi gas enters the quasi-2D regime where shell structure associated with the filling of individual transverse oscillator states is apparent. This dimensional crossover is demonstrated through measurements of the cloud size and aspect ratio versus atom number.

Temperature dependence of the universal contact parameter in a unitary Fermi gas.

The contact I, introduced by Tan, has emerged as a key parameter characterizing universal properties of strongly interacting Fermi gases. For ultracold Fermi gases near a Feshbach resonance, the contact depends upon two quantities: the interaction parameter 1/(k(F)a), where k(F) is the Fermi wave vector and a is the s-wave scattering length, and the temperature T/T(F), where T(F) is the Fermi temperature. We present the first measurements of the temperature dependence of the contact in a unitary Fermi gas using Bragg spectroscopy. The contact is seen to follow the predicted decay with temperature and shows how pair-correlations at high momentum persist well above the superfluid transition temperature.

Observation of interspecies6Li-133Cs Feshbach resonances

We report on the observation of 19 interspecies Feshbach resonances in an optically trapped ultracold Bose-Fermi mixture of

Heteronuclear Efimov Scenario with Positive Intraspecies Scattering Length.

{}^{133}\text{Cs}

Universal three-body recombination and Efimov resonances in an ultracold Li-Cs mixture

and

Quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental results for Bragg spectroscopy of a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid

{}^{6}\text{Li}

Universality of weakly bound dimers and Efimov trimers close to Li–Cs Feshbach resonances

in the two energetically lowest spin states. We assign the resonances to