Anomalous spin segregation in a weakly interacting two-component Fermi gas

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.79.051601· OSTI ID:21300782

Natu, Stefan S; Mueller, Erich J ^[1]

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1. Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 (United States)

We explain the spin segregation seen at Duke in a two-component gas of {sup 6}Li [X. Du, L. Luo, B. Clancy, and J. E. Thomas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 150401 (2008)] as a mean-field effect describable via a collisionless Boltzmann equation. As seen in experiments, we find that slight differences in the trapping potentials in the two spin states drive small spin currents. The Hartree-Fock-type interactions convert these currents into a redistribution of populations in energy space, and consequently a long-lived spin texture develops. We explore the interaction strength dependence of these dynamics, finding nontrivial dependence on system parameters and close agreement with experiment.

• OSTI ID: 21300782
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 79, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.79.051601; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOLTZMANN EQUATION
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
CURRENTS
FERMI GAS
HARTREE-FOCK METHOD
INTERACTIONS
LITHIUM
LITHIUM 6
MEAN-FIELD THEORY
SEGREGATION
SPIN
SPIN WAVES