Theory of strongly interacting Fermi gases

Abstract

Ultra-cold atomic Fermi gases at nano-Kelvin temperatures provide a new paradigm for the foundations of quantum many-body theory. Here, we summarize our recent theoretical efforts to understand the intriguing properties of these strongly correlated Fermi gases. A number of powerful theoretical techniques have been developed, including (i) a quantitative diagrammatic theory taken to infinite order; (ii) a virial expansion at high temperature; (iii) exact solutions for one-dimensional many-body systems; and (iv) new quantum simulations using the Gaussian Fermi representation. We have employed these techniques to predict universal thermodynamics in the strongly interacting limit and exotic quantum superfluid phases with imbalanced spin populations. More insights into strongly interacting Fermi gases are anticipated, by extending the Gaussian Fermi simulations to new regimes.

Keywords:

• strongly interacting Fermi gases
• universal thermodynamics
• virial expansion
• integrable models
• Gaussian Fermi representation