Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/219748

Download PDF (Published version) (Adobe Acrobat PDF, -1 bytes)

Title

Topological superfluid in one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled atomic Fermi gases

Author(s)

Liu, Xia-Ji;  Hu, Hui

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the prospect of realizing a topological superfluid in one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled atomic Fermi gases under a Zeeman field in harmonic traps. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling, it is well known that the system is either a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid or an inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superfluid. Here we show that with spin-orbit coupling it could be driven into a topological superfluid, which supports zero-energy Majorana modes. However, in the weakly interacting regime the topological superfluid prefers to stay at the trap edge, in contrast to a FFLO superfluid, which occurs near the trap center. As a result, it is unlikely to experimentally observe an inhomogeneous FFLO superfluid with topo-logical order without specifically tailoring the geometry or other parameters of the Fermi cloud.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences. Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy. Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics

Source

Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Vol. 85, no. 3 (2012), article no. 033622

Publication year

2012

FOR Code(s)

01 Mathematical Sciences;  02 Physical Sciences;  03 Chemical Sciences

Keyword(s)

Atomic Fermi gases;  Spin-orbit coupling;  Topological superfluid

Publisher

American Physical Society

ISSN

1050-2947

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.033622

Copyright

Copyright © 2012 American Physical Society. The published version is reproduced with the kind permission of the publisher.

Research Projects

Imbalanced superfluidity: the quantum mystery that defies solution, Australian Research Project grant number DP0984637
Ultracold atomic Fermi gases in the strongly interacting regime: a new frontier of quantum many-body physics, Australian Research Council grant number DP0984522

Full text

Peer reviewed