Proposed method to realize the $p$-wave superfluid state using a $s$-wave superfluid Fermi gas with a synthetic spin-orbit interaction

Abstract

We theoretically propose an idea to reach the $p$-wave superfluid phase in an ultracold Fermi gas. The key of our idea is that the pairing symmetry of a Fermi superfluid is fully dominated by the symmetry of the superfluid order parameter, which is essentially given by the product of a pair amplitude and a pairing interaction. Noting this, in our proposal, we first prepare a $p$-wave pair amplitude by, not using a $p$-wave interaction, but using the phenomenon that a $p$-wave pair amplitude is induced in an $s$-wave superfluid Fermi gas with antisymmetric spin-orbit interaction. In this case, although the system is still in the $s$-wave superfluid state with the $s$-wave superfluid order parameter, when one suddenly replaces the $s$-wave interaction by an appropriate $p$-wave one (which is possible in cold Fermi gases by using a Feshbach resonance technique), the product of the $p$-wave interaction and the $p$-wave pair amplitude that has already been prepared in the spin-orbit coupled $s$-wave superfluid state immediately gives a finite $p$-wave superfluid order parameter. Thus, at least just after this manipulation, the system is in the $p$-wave superfluid state, being characterized by the artificially produced $p$-wave superfluid parameter. In this paper, to assess our idea, we evaluate the $p$-wave pair amplitude in a spin-orbit coupled $s$-wave superfluid Fermi gas at $T=0$. We determine the region where a large $p$-wave pair amplitude is obtained in the phase diagram with respect to the strengths of the $s$-wave pairing interaction and the spin-orbit coupling. We also discuss the accessibility of this optimal region on the viewpoint of the superfluid phase transition temperature. Since the achievement of a $p$-wave superfluid Fermi gas is one of the most crucial issues in cold atom physics, our proposal would be useful for this exciting challenge.

30 pages, 9 figures

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• Theory of ultracold Fermi gases
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• Three fully polarized fermions close to a p-wave Feshbach resonance
• Stability of the fermionic gases close to a p-wave Feshbach resonance
• Role of the Majorana Fermion and the Edge Mode in Chiral Superfluidity near a p-Wave Feshbach Resonance
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• Predicted signatures of p-wave superfluid phases and Majorana zero modes of fermionic atoms in RF absorption
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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Quantum metric contribution to the pair mass in spin-orbit coupled Fermi superfluids
• Stable p-wave resonant two-dimensional Fermi-Bose dimers
• Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in spin-orbit-coupled superconductors
• A Novel Route to Reach a $p$-wave Superfluid Fermi Gas
• Pairing Dynamics of Polar States in a Quenched p-wave Superfluid Fermi Gas
• Triplet-odd pairing in finite nuclear systems: Even-even singly closed nuclei
• Rashbon bound states associated with a spherical spin-orbit coupling in an ultracold Fermi gas with an $s$-wave interaction
• Triplet pair amplitude in a trapped $s$-wave superfluid Fermi gas with broken spin rotation symmetry. II. Three dimensional continuum case
• Appropriate conditions to realize a $p$-wave superfluid state starting from a spin-orbit coupled $s$-wave superfluid Fermi gas