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Title

Multicomponent strongly attractive Fermi gas: a color superconductor in a one-dimensional harmonic trap

Author(s)

Liu, Xia-Ji;  Hu, Hui;  Drummond, P. D.

Abstract

Recent advances in ultracold atomic Fermi gases make it possible to achieve a fermionic superfluid with multiple spin components. In this context, any mean-field description is expected to fail, owing to the presence of tightly bound clusters or molecules that consist of more than two particles. Here we present a detailed study of a strongly interacting multicomponent Fermi gas in a highly elongated or quasi-one-dimensional harmonic trap, which could be readily obtained in experiment. By using the exact Bethe ansatz solution and a local density approximation treatment of the harmonic trap, we investigate the equation of state of the multicomponent Fermi gas in both a homogeneous and trapped environment, as well as the density profiles and low-energy collective modes. The binding energy of multicomponent bound clusters is also given. We show that there is a peak in the collective mode frequency at the critical density for a deconfining transition to a many-body state that is analogous to the quark color superconductor state expected in neutron stars.

Publication type

Journal article

Source

Physical Review A, Vol. 77, no. 1 (2008), article no. 013622

Publication year

2008

FOR Code(s)

0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics;  0204 Condensed Matter Physics;  0205 Optical Physics

Keyword(s)

Binding energy;  Colour;  Density functional theory;  Electron traps;  Equations of state;  Fermi gas;  Fermion systems;  Fermionic superfluids;  Harmonic analysis;  Harmonic traps;  Superconducting materials;  Superconductivity;  Superfluidity

Publisher

American Physical Society

ISSN

1050-2947

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.77.013622

Copyright

Copyright © 2008 The American Physical Society. Published version of this paper reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Full text

Peer reviewed