Spinodal decomposition in polarised Fermi superfluids

Abstract

We discuss the dynamics of phase separation through the process of spinodal decomposition in a Fermi superfluid with population imbalance. We discuss this instability first in terms of a phenomenological Landau theory. Working within the mean-field description at zero temperature, we then find the spinodal region in the phase diagram of polarisation versus interaction strength, and the spectrum of unstable modes in this region. After a quench, the spinodal decomposition starts from the Sarma state, which is a minimum of the free energy with respect to the order parameter at fixed density and polarisation and a maximum at fixed chemical potentials. The possibility of observing non-trivial domain structures in current experiments with trapped atomic gases is discussed.

6 pages, 3 eps figures (published version)

References in corpus (1)

• Observation of the Pairing Gap in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Phase separation and collapse in Bose-Fermi mixtures with a Feshbach resonance
• Radio frequency spectroscopy of a strongly imbalanced Feshbach-resonant Fermi gas