Mark Ku

Universal spin transport in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

Transport of fermions, particles with half-integer spin, is central to many fields of physics. Electron transport runs modern technology, defining states of matter such as superconductors and insulators, and electron spin is being explored as a new carrier of information. Neutrino transport energizes supernova explosions following the collapse of a dying star, and hydrodynamic transport of the quark–gluon plasma governed the expansion of the early Universe. However, our understanding of non-equilibrium dynamics in such strongly interacting fermionic matter is still limited. Ultracold gases of fermionic atoms realize a pristine model for such systems and can be studied in real time with the precision of atomic physics. Even above the superfluid transition, such gases flow as an almost perfect fluid with very low viscosity when interactions are tuned to a scattering resonance. In this hydrodynamic regime, collective density excitations are weakly damped. Here we experimentally investigate spin excitations in a Fermi gas of 6Li atoms, finding that, in contrast, they are maximally damped. A spin current is induced by spatially separating two spin components and observing their evolution in an external trapping potential. We demonstrate that interactions can be strong enough to reverse spin currents, with components of opposite spin reflecting off each other. Near equilibrium, we obtain the spin drag coefficient, the spin diffusivity and the spin susceptibility as a function of temperature on resonance and show that they obey universal laws at high temperatures. In the degenerate regime, the spin diffusivity approaches a value set by [planck]/m, the quantum limit of diffusion, where [planck]/m is Planck’s constant divided by 2π and m the atomic mass. For repulsive interactions, our measurements seem to exclude a metastable ferromagnetic state.

Evolution of Fermion Pairing from Three to Two Dimensions

We follow the evolution of fermion pairing in the dimensional crossover from three-dimensional to two-dimensional as a strongly interacting Fermi gas of ^{6}Li atoms becomes confined to a stack of two-dimensional layers formed by a one-dimensional optical lattice. Decreasing the dimensionality leads to the opening of a gap in radio-frequency spectra, even on the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer side of a Feshbach resonance. The measured binding energy of fermion pairs closely follows the theoretical two-body binding energy and, in the two-dimensional limit, the zero-temperature mean-field Bose-Einstein-condensation to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer crossover theory.

Heavy Solitons in a Fermionic Superfluid

Solitons—solitary waves that maintain their shape as they propagate—occur as water waves in narrow canals, as light pulses in optical fibres and as quantum mechanical matter waves in superfluids and superconductors. Their highly nonlinear and localized nature makes them very sensitive probes of the medium in which they propagate. Here we create long-lived solitons in a strongly interacting superfluid of fermionic atoms and directly observe their motion. As the interactions are tuned from the regime of Bose–Einstein condensation of tightly bound molecules towards the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer limit of long-range Cooper pairs, the solitons’ effective mass increases markedly, to more than 200 times their bare mass, signalling strong quantum fluctuations. This mass enhancement is more than 50 times larger than the theoretically predicted value. Our work provides a benchmark for theories of non-equilibrium dynamics of strongly interacting fermions.

Motion of a solitonic vortex in the BEC-BCS crossover.

We observe a long-lived solitary wave in a superfluid Fermi gas of (6)Li atoms after phase imprinting. Tomographic imaging reveals the excitation to be a solitonic vortex, oriented transverse to the long axis of the cigar-shaped atom cloud. The precessional motion of the vortex is directly observed, and its period is measured as a function of the chemical potential in the BEC-BCS crossover. The long period and the correspondingly large ratio of the inertial to the bare mass of the vortex are in good agreement with estimates based on superfluid hydrodynamics that we derive here using the known equation of state in the BEC-BCS crossover.

Collective Modes in a Unitary Fermi Gas across the Superfluid Phase Transition

We provide a joint theoretical and experimental investigation of the temperature dependence of the collective oscillations of first sound nature exhibited by a highly elongated harmonically trapped Fermi gas at unitarity, including the region below the critical temperature for superfluidity. Differently from the lowest axial breathing mode, the hydrodynamic frequencies of the higher-nodal excitations show a temperature dependence, which is calculated starting from Landau two-fluid theory and using the available experimental knowledge of the equation of state. The experimental results agree with high accuracy with the predictions of theory and provide the first evidence for the temperature dependence of the collective frequencies near the superfluid phase transition.

Cascade of Solitonic Excitations in a Superfluid Fermi gas: From Planar Solitons to Vortex Rings and Lines

We follow the time evolution of a superfluid Fermi gas of resonantly interacting Li atoms after a phase imprint. Via tomographic imaging, we observe the formation of a planar dark soliton, its subsequent snaking, and its decay into a vortex ring, which in turn breaks to finally leave behind a single solitonic vortex. In intermediate stages we find evidence for an exotic structure resembling the Φ-soliton, a combination of a vortex ring and a vortex line. Direct imaging of the nodal surface reveals its undulation dynamics and its decay via the puncture of the initial soliton plane. The observed evolution of the nodal surface represents dynamics beyond superfluid hydrodynamics, calling for a microscopic description of unitary fermionic superfluids out of equilibrium.We follow the time evolution of a superfluid Fermi gas of resonantly interacting ^{6}Li atoms after a phase imprint. Via tomographic imaging, we observe the formation of a planar dark soliton, its subsequent snaking, and its decay into a vortex ring, which, in turn, breaks to finally leave behind a single solitonic vortex. In intermediate stages, we find evidence for an exotic structure resembling the Φ soliton, a combination of a vortex ring and a vortex line. Direct imaging of the nodal surface reveals its undulation dynamics and its decay via the puncture of the initial soliton plane. The observed evolution of the nodal surface represents dynamics beyond superfluid hydrodynamics, calling for a microscopic description of unitary fermionic superfluids out of equilibrium.