2008/04/30 by Aurel Bulgac, Michael McNeil Forbes · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #cond-mat.supr-con #hep-ph #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.101.215301
published as Phys.Rev.Lett.101:215301,2008 · 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX4. (Minor updates to correspond with published version.)
openalex publication_date 2008/11/18 · arxiv created 2008/12/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present strong theoretical evidence that a Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LOFF/FFLO) pairing phase is favored over the homogeneous superfluid and normal phases in three-dimensional unitary Fermi systems. Using a density functional theory (DFT) based on the latest quantum Monte Carlo calculations and experimental results, we show that this phase is competitive over a large region of the phase diagram. The oscillations in the number densities and pairing field have a substantial amplitude, and a period some 3 to 10 times the average interparticle separation. Within the DFT, the transition to a normal polarized Fermi liquid at large polarizations is smooth, while the transition to a fully paired superfluid is abrupt.