Population imbalance as a vortex catalyst in Fermi superfluids

Pairing leads to superfluidity in ultracold atomic gases, but this pairing can be frustrated when a population imbalance is present between the pairing partners. Here we investigate how vortices in the fermionic superfluid are affected by imbalance. We show that the vortex core radius is increased b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physica. C, Superconductivity Superconductivity, 2008-04, Vol.468 (7-10), p.503-507
Main Authors: Tempere, J., Devreese, J.T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic radius
Catalysts
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Exact sciences and technology
Fluid flow
Fluids
Imbalanced Fermi gas
Physics
Superconductivity
Superfluidity
Vortices
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Pairing leads to superfluidity in ultracold atomic gases, but this pairing can be frustrated when a population imbalance is present between the pairing partners. Here we investigate how vortices in the fermionic superfluid are affected by imbalance. We show that the vortex core radius is increased by imbalance, accommodating excess component atoms. This has two intriguing consequences. Firstly, a small imbalance acts as a catalyst for vortex formation, decreasing the critical rotation frequency. Secondly, imbalanced gases near critical imbalance can exhibit rotationally induced superfluidity.
ISSN:0921-4534
1873-2143
DOI:10.1016/j.physc.2007.11.018