Igor Boettcher

Ultracold atoms and the Functional Renormalization Group

We give a self-contained introduction to the physics of ultracold atoms using functional integral techniques. Based on a consideration of the relevant length scales, we derive the universal effective low energy Hamiltonian describing ultracold alkali atoms. We then introduce the concept of the effective action, which generalizes the classical action principle to full quantum status and provides an intuitive and versatile tool for practical calculations. This framework is applied to weakly interacting degenerate bosons and fermions in the spatial continuum. In particular, we discuss the related BEC and BCS quantum condensation mechanisms. We then turn to the BCS-BEC crossover, which interpolates between both phenomena, and which is realized experimentally in the vicinity of a Feshbach resonance. For its description, we introduce the Functional Renormalization Group approach. After a general discussion of the method in the cold atoms context, we present a detailed and pedagogical application to the crossover problem. This not only provides the physical mechanism underlying this phenomenon. More generally, it also reveals how the renormalization group can be used as a tool to capture physics at all scales, from few-body scattering on microscopic scales, through the finite temperature phase diagram governed by many-body length scales, up to critical phenomena dictating long distance physics at the phase transition. The presentation aims to equip students at the beginning PhD level with knowledge on key physical phenomena and flexible tools for their description, and should enable to embark upon practical calculations in this field.

Phase structure of spin-imbalanced unitary Fermi gases

We investigate the phase structure of spin-imbalanced unitary Fermi gases beyond mean-field theory by means of the Functional Renormalization Group. In this approach, quantum and thermal fluctuations are resolved in a systematic manner. The discretization of the effective potential on a grid allows us to accurately account for both first- and second-order phase transitions that are present on the mean-field level. We compute the full phase diagram in the plane of temperature and spin-imbalance and discuss the existence of other conjectured phases such as the Sarma phase and a precondensation region. In addition, we explain on a qualitative level how we expect that in-situ density images are affected by our findings and which experimental signatures may potentially be used to probe the phase structure.

Anisotropy induces non-Fermi-liquid behavior and nematic magnetic order in three-dimensional Luttinger semimetals

We illuminate the intriguing role played by spatial anisotropy in three-dimensional Luttinger semimetals featuring quadratic band touching and long-range Coulomb interactions. We observe the anisotropy to be subject to an exceptionally slow renormalization group (RG) evolution so that it can be considered approximately constant when computing the impact of quantum fluctuations on the remaining couplings of the system. Using perturbative RG we then study the competition of all local short-range interactions that are generated from the long-range interactions for fixed anisotropy. Two main effects come to light for sufficiently strong anisotropy. First, the three-dimensional system features an Abrikosov non-Fermi liquid ground state. Second, there appear qualitatively new fixed points which describe quantum phase transitions into phases with nemagnetic orders - higher-rank tensor orders that break time-reversal symmetry, and thus have both nematic and magnetic character. In real materials these phases may be realized through sufficiently strong microscopic short-range interactions. On the pyrochlore lattice, the anisotropy-induced fixed points determine the onset of all-in-all-out or spin ice ordering of local magnetic moments of the electrons.

Critical temperature and superfluid gap of the Unitary Fermi Gas from Functional Renormalization

We investigate the superfluid transition of the Unitary Fermi Gas by means of the Functional Renormalization Group, aiming at quantitative precision. We extract

High-temperature pairing in a strongly interacting two-dimensional Fermi gas

T_{\rm c}/\mu=0.38(2)

Sarma phase in relativistic and non-relativistic systems

and

Scaling relations and multicritical phenomena from functional renormalization.

\Delta/\mu=1.04(15)

Tan contact and universal high momentum behavior of the fermion propagator in the BCS-BEC crossover

for the critical temperature and the superfluid gap at zero temperature, respectively, within a systematic improvement of the truncation for the effective average action. The key new ingredient in comparison to previous approaches consists in the use of regulators which cut off both frequencies and momenta. We incorporate renormalization effects on both the bosonic and the fermionic propagator, include higher order bosonic scattering processes, and investigate the regulator and specification parameter dependence for an error estimate. The ratio

Dimensional crossover of nonrelativistic bosons

\Delta/T_{\rm c}=2.7(3)

Error estimates and specification parameters for functional renormalization

becomes less sensitive to the relative cutoff scale of bosons and fermions when improving the truncation. The techniques developed in this work are easily carried over to the cases of finite scattering length, lower dimensionality, and spin-imbalance.