English

Atom-molecule equilibration in a degenerate Fermi gas with resonant interactions

Other Condensed Matter 2009-11-10 v3

Abstract

We present a nonequilibrium kinetic theory describing atom-molecule population dynamics in a two-component Fermi gas with a Feshbach resonance. Key collision integrals emerge that govern the relaxation of the atom-molecule mixture to chemical and thermal equilibrium. Our focus is on the pseudogap regime where molecules form above the superfluid transition temperature. In this regime, we formulate a simple model for the atom-molecule population dynamics. The model predicts the saturation of molecule formation that has been observed in recent experiments, and indicates that a dramatic enhancement of the atom-molecule conversion efficiency occurs at low temperatures.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0403503,
  title  = {Atom-molecule equilibration in a degenerate Fermi gas with resonant interactions},
  author = {J. E. Williams and T. Nikuni and N. Nygaard and C. W. Clark},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0403503},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

Updated manuscript on July 5, 2004. Four pages with three embedded figures