First and second sound in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

E. Taylor, H. Hu, X.-J. Liu, L. P. Pitaevskii, A. Griffin, and S. Stringari
Phys. Rev. A 80, 053601 – Published 2 November 2009

Abstract

Using a variational approach, we solve the equations of two-fluid hydrodynamics for a uniform and trapped Fermi gas at unitarity. In the uniform case, we find that the first and second sound modes are remarkably similar to those in superfluid helium, a consequence of strong interactions. In the presence of harmonic trapping, first and second sound become degenerate at certain temperatures. At these points, second sound hybridizes with first sound and is strongly coupled with density fluctuations, giving a promising way of observing second sound. We also discuss the possibility of exciting second sound by generating local heat perturbations.

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  • Received 3 May 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.80.053601

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

E. Taylor1,*, H. Hu2,3, X.-J. Liu2, L. P. Pitaevskii1,4, A. Griffin5, and S. Stringari1

  • 1CNR-INFM BEC Center and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, I-38050 Povo, Trento, Italy
  • 2ACQAO and Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3122, Australia
  • 3Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
  • 4Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, Kosygina 2, 119334 Moscow, Russia
  • 5Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A7

  • *Present address: Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210.

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Vol. 80, Iss. 5 — November 2009

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