2007/02/20 by Marco Polini, Giovanni Vignale · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.98.266403
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 266403 (2007) · 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted
arxiv created 2007/02/20 · openalex publication_date 2007/06/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Low-energy spin and charge excitations of one-dimensional interacting fermions are completely decoupled and propagate with different velocities. These modes, however, can decay due to several possible mechanisms. In this Letter we expose a new facet of spin-charge separation: not only the speeds but also the damping rates of spin and charge excitations are different. While the propagation of long-wavelength charge excitations is essentially ballistic, spin propagation is intrinsically damped and diffusive. We suggest that cold Fermi gases trapped inside a tight atomic waveguide offer the opportunity to measure the spin-drag relaxation rate that controls the broadening of a spin packet.