Decay of Polarons and Molecules in a Strongly Polarized Fermi Gas

Journal Article · Fri Jul 09 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.105.020403· OSTI ID:21410893

Bruun, G M; Massignan, P ^[1]

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1. Mathematical Physics, Lund Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 118, SE-22100 Lund (Sweden)

The ground state of an impurity immersed in a Fermi sea changes from a polaron to a molecule as the interaction strength is increased. We show here that the coupling between these two states is strongly suppressed due to a combination of phase-space effects and Fermi statistics, and that it vanishes much faster than the energy difference between the two states, thereby confirming the first order nature of the polaron-molecule transition. In the regime where each state is metastable, we find quasiparticle lifetimes which are much longer than what is expected for a usual Fermi liquid. Our analysis indicates that the decay rates are sufficiently slow to be experimentally observable.

• OSTI ID: 21410893
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.020403; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COUPLING
FERMI GAS
FERMI STATISTICS
GROUND STATES
INTERACTIONS
LIFETIME
MOLECULES
NUCLEAR DECAY
PARTICLE DECAY
PHASE SPACE
POLARIZATION
POLARONS
QUASI PARTICLES
DECAY
ENERGY LEVELS
MATHEMATICAL SPACE
SPACE