Thermodynamics of spin-1/2 fermions on coarse temporal lattices using automated algebra

Recent advances in automated algebra for dilute Fermi gases in the virial expansion, where coarse temporal lattices were found advantageous, motivate the study of more general computational schemes that could be applied to arbitrary densities, beyond the dilute limit where the virial expansion is physically reasonable. We propose here such an approach by developing what we call the Quantum Thermodynamics Computational Engine (QTCE). In QTCE, the imaginary-time direction is discretized and the interaction is accounted for via a quantum cumulant expansion, where the coefficients are expressed in terms of non-interacting expectation values. The aim of QTCE is to enable the systematic resolution of interaction effects at fixed temporal discretization, as in lattice Monte Carlo calculations, but here in an algebraic rather than numerical fashion. Using this approach, in combination with numerical integration techniques (both known and alternative ones proposed here), we explore the thermodynamics of spin-1/2 fermions across spatial dimensions, focusing on the unitary limit. We find that, remarkably, extremely coarse temporal lattices, when suitably renormalized using known results from the virial expansion, yield stable partial sums for QTCE's cumulant expansion that are qualitatively and quantitatively correct in wide regions (when compared with known experimental results). This article is part of the theme issue 'The liminal position of Nuclear Physics: from hadrons to neutron stars'.

Scale Invariance of a Spherical Unitary Fermi Gas

A unitary Fermi gas in an isotropic harmonic trap is predicted to show scale and conformal symmetry that have important consequences in its thermodynamic and dynamical properties. By experimentally realizing a unitary Fermi gas in an isotropic harmonic trap, we demonstrate its universal expansion dynamics along each direction and at different temperatures. We show that as a consequence of SO(2,1) symmetry, the measured release energy is equal to that of the trapping energy. We further observe the breathing mode with an oscillation frequency twice the trapping frequency and a small damping rate, providing the evidence of SO(2,1) symmetry. In addition, away from resonance when scale invariance is broken, we determine the effective exponent γ that relates the chemical potential and average density along the BEC-BCS crossover, which qualitatively agrees with the mean field predictions. This Letter opens the possibility of studying nonequilibrium dynamics in a conformal invariant system in the future.

Fermionic quantum turbulence: Pushing the limits of high-performance computing

Ultracold atoms provide a platform for analog quantum computer capable of simulating the quantum turbulence that underlies puzzling phenomena like pulsar glitches in rapidly spinning neutron stars. Unlike other platforms like liquid helium, ultracold atoms have a viable theoretical framework for dynamics, but simulations push the edge of current classical computers. We present the largest simulations of fermionic quantum turbulence to date and explain the computing technology needed, especially improvements in the Eigenvalue soLvers for Petaflop Applications library that enable us to diagonalize matrices of record size (millions by millions). We quantify how dissipation and thermalization proceed in fermionic quantum turbulence by using the internal structure of vortices as a new probe of the local effective temperature. All simulation data and source codes are made available to facilitate rapid scientific progress in the field of ultracold Fermi gases.

Observation of the Fermionic Joule-Thomson Effect

We report the first observation of the quantum Joule-Thomson (JT) effect in ideal and unitary Fermi gases. We study the temperature dynamics of these systems while they undergo an energy-per-particle conserving rarefaction. For scale-invariant systems, whose equations of state satisfy the relation U∝PV, this rarefaction conserves the specific enthalpy, which makes it thermodynamically equivalent to a JT throttling process. We observe JT heating in an ideal Fermi gas, a direct consequence of Pauli blocking. In a unitary Fermi gas, we observe that the JT heating is marginal in the temperature range 0.2≲T/T_{F}≲0.8 as the repulsive quantum-statistical effect is lessened by the attractive interparticle interactions.

Thermography of the superfluid transition in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

Heat transport can serve as a fingerprint identifying different states of matter. In a normal liquid, a hotspot diffuses, whereas in a superfluid, heat propagates as a wave called "second sound." Direct imaging of heat transport is challenging, and one usually resorts to detecting secondary effects. In this study, we establish thermography of a strongly interacting atomic Fermi gas, whose radio-frequency spectrum provides spatially resolved thermometry with subnanokelvin resolution. The superfluid phase transition was directly observed as the sudden change from thermal diffusion to second-sound propagation and is accompanied by a peak in the second-sound diffusivity. This method yields the full heat and density response of the strongly interacting Fermi gas and therefore all defining properties of Landau's two-fluid hydrodynamics.

Observation and quantification of the pseudogap in unitary Fermi gases

The microscopic origin of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates remains unknown. It is widely believed that substantial progress could be achieved by better understanding of the pseudogap phase, a normal non-superconducting state of cuprates1,2. In particular, a central issue is whether the pseudogap could originate from strong pairing fluctuations3. Unitary Fermi gases4,5, in which the pseudogap-if it exists-necessarily arises from many-body pairing, offer ideal quantum simulators to address this question. Here we report the observation of a pair-fluctuation-driven pseudogap in homogeneous unitary Fermi gases of lithium-6 atoms, by precisely measuring the fermion spectral function through momentum-resolved microwave spectroscopy and without spurious effects from final-state interactions. The temperature dependence of the pairing gap, inverse pair lifetime and single-particle scattering rate are quantitatively determined by analysing the spectra. We find a large pseudogap above the superfluid transition temperature. The inverse pair lifetime exhibits a thermally activated exponential behaviour, uncovering the microscopic virtual pair breaking and recombination mechanism. The obtained large, temperature-independent single-particle scattering rate is comparable with that set by the Planckian limit6. Our findings quantitatively characterize the pseudogap in strongly interacting Fermi gases and they lend support for the role of preformed pairing as a precursor to superfluidity.

Density-wave ordering in a unitary Fermi gas with photon-mediated interactions

A density wave (DW) is a fundamental type of long-range order in quantum matter tied to self-organization into a crystalline structure. The interplay of DW order with superfluidity can lead to complex scenarios that pose a great challenge to theoretical analysis. In the past decades, tunable quantum Fermi gases have served as model systems for exploring the physics of strongly interacting fermions, including most notably magnetic ordering¹, pairing and superfluidity², and the crossover from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid to a Bose-Einstein condensate³. Here, we realize a Fermi gas featuring both strong, tunable contact interactions and photon-mediated, spatially structured long-range interactions in a transversely driven high-finesse optical cavity. Above a critical long-range interaction strength, DW order is stabilized in the system, which we identify via its superradiant light-scattering properties. We quantitatively measure the variation of the onset of DW order as the contact interaction is varied across the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid and Bose-Einstein condensate crossover, in qualitative agreement with a mean-field theory. The atomic DW susceptibility varies over an order of magnitude upon tuning the strength and the sign of the long-range interactions below the self-ordering threshold, demonstrating independent and simultaneous control over the contact and long-range interactions. Therefore, our experimental setup provides a fully tunable and microscopically controllable platform for the experimental study of the interplay of superfluidity and DW order.

Superfluid Signatures in a Dissipative Quantum Point Contact

We measure superfluid transport of strongly interacting fermionic lithium atoms through a quantum point contact with local, spin-dependent particle loss. We observe that the characteristic non-Ohmic superfluid transport enabled by high-order multiple Andreev reflections transitions into an excess Ohmic current as the dissipation strength exceeds the superfluid gap. We develop a model with mean-field reservoirs connected via tunneling to a dissipative site. Our calculations in the Keldysh formalism reproduce the observed nonequilibrium particle current, yet do not fully explain the observed loss rate or spin current.

Machine Learning the Phase Diagram of a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

We determine the phase diagram of strongly correlated fermions in the crossover from Bose-Einstein condensates of molecules (BEC) to Cooper pairs of fermions (BCS) utilizing an artificial neural network. By applying advanced image recognition techniques to the momentum distribution of the fermions, a quantity which has been widely considered as featureless for providing information about the condensed state, we measure the critical temperature and show that it exhibits a maximum on the bosonic side of the crossover. Additionally, we backanalyze the trained neural network and demonstrate that it interprets physically relevant quantities.

Dissipative Dynamics of Quantum Vortices in Fermionic Superfluid

In a recent article, Kwon et al. [Nature (London) 600, 64 (2021)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-021-04047-4] revealed nonuniversal dissipative dynamics of quantum vortices in a fermionic superfluid. The enhancement of the dissipative process is pronounced for the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer interaction regime, and it was suggested that the effect is due to the presence of quasiparticles localized inside the vortex core. We test this hypothesis through numerical simulations with time-dependent density-functional theory: a fully microscopic framework with fermionic degrees of freedom. The results of fully microscopic calculations expose the impact of the vortex-bound states on dissipative dynamics in a fermionic superfluid. Their contribution is too weak to explain the experimental measurements, and we identify that thermal effects, giving rise to mutual friction between superfluid and the normal component, dominate the observed dynamics.

Temperature-Dependent Decay of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Vortices across the BCS-BEC Crossover

We systematically study the decay of quasi-two-dimensional vortices in an oblate strongly interacting Fermi gas over a wide interaction range and observe that, as the system temperature is lowered, the vortex lifetime increases in the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) regime but decreases at unitarity and in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) regime. The observations can be qualitatively captured by a phenomenological model simply involving diffusion and two-body collisional loss, in which the vortex lifetime is mostly determined by the slower process of the two. In particular, the counterintuitive vortex decay in the BCS regime can be interpreted by considering the competition between the temperature dependence of the vortex annihilation rate and that of unpaired fermions. Our results suggest a competing mechanism for the complex vortex decay dynamics in the BCS-BEC crossover for the fermionic superfluids.

Observing the Influence of Reduced Dimensionality on Fermionic Superfluids

Understanding the origins of unconventional superconductivity has been a major focus of condensed matter physics for many decades. While many questions remain unanswered, experiments have found the highest critical temperatures in layered two-dimensional materials. However, to what extent the remarkable stability of these strongly correlated 2D superfluids is affected by their reduced dimensionality is still an open question. Here, we use dilute gases of ultracold fermionic atoms as a model system to directly observe the influence of dimensionality on the stability of strongly interacting fermionic superfluids. We find that the superfluid gap follows the same universal function of the interaction strength regardless of dimensionality, which suggests that there is no inherent difference in the stability of two- and three-dimensional fermionic superfluids. Finally, we compare our data to results from solid state systems and find a similar relation between the interaction strength and the gap for a wide range of two- and three-dimensional superconductors.

Magic Gap Ratio for Optimally Robust Fermionic Condensation and Its Implications for High-T_{c} Superconductivity

Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) occur at opposite limits of a continuum of pairing interaction strength between fermions. A crossover between these limits is readily observed in a cold atomic Fermi gas. Whether it occurs in other systems such as the high temperature superconducting cuprates has remained an open question. We uncover here unambiguous evidence for a BCS-BEC crossover in the cuprates by identifying a universal magic gap ratio 2Δ/k_{B}T_{c}≈6.5 (where Δ is the pairing gap and T_{c} is the transition temperature) at which paired fermion condensates become optimally robust. At this gap ratio, corresponding to the unitary point in a cold atomic Fermi gas, the measured condensate fraction N_{0} and the height of the jump δγ(T_{c}) in the coefficient γ of the fermionic specific heat at T_{c} are strongly peaked. In the cuprates, δγ(T_{c}) is peaked at this gap ratio when Δ corresponds to the antinodal spectroscopic gap, thus reinforcing its interpretation as the pairing gap. We find the peak in δγ(T_{c}) also to coincide with a normal state maximum in γ, which is indicative of a pairing fluctuation pseudogap above T_{c}.

Nonrelativistic Conformal Invariance in Mesoscopic Two-Dimensional Fermi Gases

Two-dimensional Fermi gases with universal short-range interactions are known to exhibit a quantum anomaly, where a classical scale and conformal invariance is broken by quantum effects at strong coupling. We argue that in a quasi two-dimensional geometry, a conformal window remains at weak interactions. Using degenerate perturbation theory, we verify the conformal symmetry by computing the energy spectrum of mesoscopic particle ensembles in a harmonic trap, which separates into conformal towers formed by so-called primary states and their center-of-mass and breathing-mode excitations, the latter having excitation energies at precisely twice the harmonic oscillator energy. In addition, using Metropolis importance sampling, we compute the hyperradial distribution function of the many-body wave functions, which are predicted by the conformal symmetry in closed analytical form. The weakly interacting Fermi gas constitutes a system where the nonrelativistic conformal symmetry can be revealed using elementary methods, and our results are testable in current experiments on mesoscopic Fermi gases.

Optimal Mittag–Leffler Summation

A novel method of an optimal summation is developed that allows for calculating from small-variable asymptotic expansions the characteristic amplitudes for variables tending to infinity. The method is developed in two versions, as the self-similar Borel–Leroy or Mittag–Leffler summations. It is based on optimized self-similar iterated roots approximants applied to the Borel–Leroy and Mittag–Leffler- transformed series with the subsequent inverse transformations. As a result, simple and transparent expressions for the critical amplitudes are obtained in explicit form. The control parameters come into play from the Borel–Leroy and Mittag–Leffler transformations. They are determined from the optimization procedure, either from the minimal derivative or minimal difference conditions, imposed on the analytically expressed critical amplitudes. After diff-log transformation, virtually the same procedure can be applied to critical indices at infinity. The results are obtained for a number of various examples. The examples vary from a rapid growth of the coefficients to a fast decay, as well as intermediate cases. The methods give good estimates for the large-variable critical amplitudes and exponents. The Mittag–Leffler summation works uniformly well for a wider variety of examples.

Compressibility and the equation of state of an optical quantum gas in a box

The compressibility of a medium, quantifying its response to mechanical perturbations, is a fundamental property determined by the equation of state. For gases of material particles, studies of the mechanical response are well established, in fields from classical thermodynamics to cold atomic quantum gases. We demonstrate a measurement of the compressibility of a two-dimensional quantum gas of light in a box potential and obtain the equation of state for the optical medium. The experiment was carried out in a nanostructured dye-filled optical microcavity. We observed signatures of Bose-Einstein condensation at high phase-space densities in the finite-size system. Upon entering the quantum degenerate regime, the measured density response to an external force sharply increases, hinting at the peculiar prediction of an infinite compressibility of the deeply degenerate Bose gas.

Excitation Spectrum and Superfluid Gap of an Ultracold Fermi Gas

Ultracold atomic gases are a powerful tool to experimentally study strongly correlated quantum many-body systems. In particular, ultracold Fermi gases with tunable interactions have allowed to realize the famous BEC-BCS crossover from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of molecules to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid of weakly bound Cooper pairs. However, large parts of the excitation spectrum of fermionic superfluids in the BEC-BCS crossover are still unexplored. In this work, we use Bragg spectroscopy to measure the full momentum-resolved low-energy excitation spectrum of strongly interacting ultracold Fermi gases. This enables us to directly observe the smooth transformation from a bosonic to a fermionic superfluid that takes place in the BEC-BCS crossover. We also use our spectra to determine the evolution of the superfluid gap and find excellent agreement with previous experiments and self-consistent T-matrix calculations both in the BEC and crossover regime. However, toward the BCS regime a calculation that includes the effects of particle-hole correlations shows better agreement with our data.

Hydrodynamic Relaxation in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

We measure the free decay of a spatially periodic density profile in a normal fluid strongly interacting Fermi gas, which is confined in a box potential. This spatial profile is initially created in thermal equilibrium by a perturbing potential. After the perturbation is abruptly extinguished, the dominant spatial Fourier component exhibits an exponentially decaying (thermally diffusive) mode and a decaying oscillatory (first sound) mode, enabling independent measurement of the thermal conductivity and the shear viscosity directly from the time-dependent evolution.

Second sound attenuation near quantum criticality

Second sound attenuation, a distinctive dissipative hydrodynamic phenomenon in a superfluid, is crucial for understanding superfluidity and elucidating critical phenomena. Here, we report the observation of second sound attenuation in a homogeneous Fermi gas of lithium-6 atoms at unitarity by performing Bragg spectroscopy with high energy resolution in the long-wavelength limit. We successfully obtained the temperature dependence of second sound diffusivity [Formula: see text] and thermal conductivity κ. Furthermore, we observed a sudden rise-a precursor of critical divergence-in both [Formula: see text] and κ at a temperature of about 0.95 superfluid transition temperature [Formula: see text]. This suggests that the unitary Fermi gas has a much larger critical region than does liquid helium. Our results pave the way for determining the universal critical scaling functions near quantum criticality.

Toward an Automated-Algebra Framework for High Orders in the Virial Expansion of Quantum Matter

The virial expansion provides a non-perturbative view into the thermodynamics of quantum many-body systems in dilute regimes. While powerful, the expansion is challenging as calculating its coefficients at each order n requires analyzing (if not solving) the quantum n-body problem. In this work, we present a comprehensive review of automated algebra methods, which we developed to calculate high-order virial coefficients. The methods are computational but non-stochastic, thus avoiding statistical effects; they are also for the most part analytic, not numerical, and amenable to massively parallel computer architectures. We show formalism and results for coefficients characterizing the thermodynamics (pressure, density, energy, static susceptibilities) of homogeneous and harmonically trapped systems and explain how to generalize them to other observables such as the momentum distribution, Tan contact, and the structure factor.

Second sound in the crossover from the Bose-Einstein condensate to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid

Second sound is an entropy wave which propagates in the superfluid component of a quantum liquid. Because it is an entropy wave, it probes the thermodynamic properties of the quantum liquid. Here, we study second sound propagation for a large range of interaction strengths within the crossover between a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) and the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid, extending previous work at unitarity. In particular, we investigate the strongly-interacting regime where currently theoretical predictions only exist in terms of an interpolation in the crossover. Working with a quantum gas of ultracold fermionic 6Li atoms with tunable interactions, we show that the second sound speed varies only slightly in the crossover regime. By varying the excitation procedure, we gain deeper insight on sound propagation. We compare our measurement results with classical-field simulations, which help with the interpretation of our experiments.

In Situ Thermometry of Fermionic Cold-Atom Quantum Wires

We study ensembles of fermionic cold-atom quantum wires with tunable transverse mode population and single-wire resolution. From in situ density profiles, we determine the temperature of the atomic wires in the weakly interacting limit and reconstruct the underlying potential landscape. By varying atom number and temperature, we control the occupation of the transverse modes and study the 1D-3D crossover. In the 1D limit, we observe an increase of the reduced temperature T/T_{F} at nearly constant entropy per particle S/Nk_{B}. The ability to probe individual atomic wires in situ paves the way to quantitatively study equilibrium and transport properties of strongly interacting 1D Fermi gases.

Dynamics of a Fermi Gas Quenched to Unitarity

We present an experimental study of a two component Fermi gas following an interaction quench into the superfluid phase. Starting with a weakly attractive gas in the normal phase, interactions are ramped to unitarity at a range of rates and we measure the subsequent dynamics as the gas approaches equilibrium. Both the formation and condensation of fermion pairs are mapped via measurements of the pair momentum distribution and can take place on very different timescales, depending on the adiabaticity of the quench. The contact parameter is seen to respond very quickly to changes in the interaction strength, indicating that short-range correlations, based on the occupation of high-momentum modes, evolve far more rapidly than the correlations in low-momentum modes necessary for pair condensation.

A generalized molecule approach capturing the Feshbach-induced pairing physics in the BEC-BCS crossover

By including the effect of a trap with characteristic energy given by the Fermi temperatureT_Fin a two-body two-channel model for Feshbach resonances, we reproduce the measured binding energy of ultracold molecules in a⁴⁰K atomic Fermi gas. We also reproduce the experimental closed-channel fractionZacross the BEC-BCS crossover and into the BCS regime of a⁶Li atomic Fermi gas. We obtain the expected behaviorZ∝TFat unitarity, together with the recently measured proportionality constant. Our results are also in agreement with recent measurements of theZdependency onT_Fon the BCS side, where a significant quantitative discrepancy between experimental data and theory's predictions has been repeatedly reported. In order to contrast with future experiments we report the proportionality constant at unitarity betweenZandTFpredicted by our model for a⁴⁰K atomic Fermi gas.

Hybrid evaporative cooling of 133Cs atoms to Bose-Einstein condensation

The Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of ¹³³Cs atoms offers an appealing platform for studying the many-body physics of interacting Bose quantum gases, owing to the rich Feshbach resonances that can be readily achieved in the low magnetic field region. However, it is notoriously difficult to cool ¹³³Cs atoms to their quantum degeneracy. Here we report a hybrid evaporative cooling of ¹³³Cs atoms to BEC. Our approach relies on a combination of the magnetically tunable evaporation with the optical evaporation of atoms in a magnetically levitated optical dipole trap overlapping with a dimple trap. The magnetic field gradient is reduced for the magnetically tunable evaporation. The subsequent optical evaporation is performed by lowering the depth of the dimple trap. We study the dependence of the peak phase space density (PSD) and temperature on the number of atoms during the evaporation process, as well as how the PSD and atom number vary with the trap depth. The results are in excellent agreement with the equation model for evaporative cooling.

Spin Susceptibility above the Superfluid Onset in Ultracold Fermi Gases

Ultracold atomic Fermi gases can be tuned to interact strongly, which produces a display of spectroscopic signatures above the superfluid transition reminiscent of the pseudogap in cuprates. However, the extent of the analogy can be questioned since many thermodynamic quantities in the low temperature spin-imbalanced normal state can be described successfully using Fermi liquid theory. Here we present spin susceptibility measurements across the interaction strength-temperature phase diagram using a novel radio frequency technique with ultracold ^{6}Li gases. For all significant interaction strengths and at all temperatures we find the spin susceptibility is reduced compared to the equivalent value for a noninteracting Fermi gas. At unitarity, we can use the local density approximation to extract the integrated spin susceptibility for the uniform gas as a function of temperature, which at high temperatures is generally less than theoretically predicted. At low temperatures, our data lie within the range of theoretical predictions, although we can also describe the entire curve using a very simple one-parameter mean field model with monotonically increasing spin susceptibility.

Preparation of Low Entropy Correlated Many-Body States via Conformal Cooling Quenches

We propose and analyze a method for preparing low entropy many-body states in isolated quantum optical systems of atoms, ions, and molecules. Our approach is based upon shifting entropy between different regions of a system by spatially modulating the magnitude of the effective Hamiltonian. We conduct two case studies, on a topological spin chain and the spinful fermionic Hubbard model, focusing on the key question: can a "conformal cooling quench" remove sufficient entropy within experimentally accessible timescales? Finite-temperature, time-dependent matrix product state calculations reveal that even moderately sized bath regions can remove enough energy and entropy density to expose coherent low-temperature physics. The protocol is particularly natural in systems with long-range interactions, such as lattice-trapped polar molecules and Rydberg-excited atoms, where the magnitude of the Hamiltonian scales directly with the interparticle spacing. To this end, we propose simple, near-term implementations of conformal cooling quenches in systems of atoms or molecules, where signatures of low-temperature phases may be observed.

Tunneling Transport of Unitary Fermions across the Superfluid Transition

We investigate the transport of a Fermi gas with unitarity-limited interactions across the superfluid phase transition, probing its response to a direct current (dc) drive through a tunnel junction. As the superfluid critical temperature is crossed from below, we observe the evolution from a highly nonlinear to an Ohmic conduction characteristic, associated with the critical breakdown of the Josephson dc current induced by pair condensate depletion. Moreover, we reveal a large and dominant anomalous contribution to resistive currents, which reaches its maximum at the lowest attained temperature, fostered by the tunnel coupling between the condensate and phononic Bogoliubov-Anderson excitations. Increasing the temperature, while the zeroing of supercurrents marks the transition to the normal phase, the conductance drops considerably but remains much larger than that of a normal, uncorrelated Fermi gas tunneling through the same junction. We attribute such enhanced transport to incoherent tunneling of sound modes, which remain weakly damped in the collisional hydrodynamic fluid of unpaired fermions at unitarity.

Convergence of Eigenvector Continuation

Eigenvector continuation is a computational method that finds the extremal eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a Hamiltonian matrix with one or more control parameters. It does this by projection onto a subspace of eigenvectors corresponding to selected training values of the control parameters. The method has proven to be very efficient and accurate for interpolating and extrapolating eigenvectors. However, almost nothing is known about how the method converges, and its rapid convergence properties have remained mysterious. In this Letter, we present the first study of the convergence of eigenvector continuation. In order to perform the mathematical analysis, we introduce a new variant of eigenvector continuation that we call vector continuation. We first prove that eigenvector continuation and vector continuation have identical convergence properties and then analyze the convergence of vector continuation. Our analysis shows that, in general, eigenvector continuation converges more rapidly than perturbation theory. The faster convergence is achieved by eliminating a phenomenon that we call differential folding, the interference between nonorthogonal vectors appearing at different orders in perturbation theory. From our analysis we can predict how eigenvector continuation converges both inside and outside the radius of convergence of perturbation theory. While eigenvector continuation is a nonperturbative method, we show that its rate of convergence can be deduced from power series expansions of the eigenvectors. Our results also yield new insights into the nature of divergences in perturbation theory.

Thermal conductivity of an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover

Recent experiments on sound waves in a unitary Fermi gas reveal many transport properties about strongly interacting fermions. Sound propagates through the coupling of momentum and heat transport, and attenuates strongly with the presence of a phase transition. In this work, focusing on the temperature regimes near and below the superfluid critical temperature [Formula: see text] in the BCS-BEC crossover, we present a Kubo-based microscopic calculation of thermal conductivity [Formula: see text], which has not attracted much attention compared to the shear viscosity. Our approach primarily addresses the contributions of the fermionic quasiparticles to thermal transport and our results return to the kinetic descriptions at high temperatures. [Formula: see text] drops upon crossing the pseudogap temperature [Formula: see text], and its temperature dependence changes below [Formula: see text]. The drops become more pronounced on the weakly coupled BCS side, where the Pauli blocking causes the upturn of [Formula: see text] above [Formula: see text]. Our calculations fit well with the sound measurement on the damping rate.

Universal sound diffusion in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

Transport of strongly interacting fermions is crucial for the properties of modern materials, nuclear fission, the merging of neutron stars, and the expansion of the early Universe. Here, we observe a universal quantum limit of diffusivity in a homogeneous, strongly interacting atomic Fermi gas by studying sound propagation and its attenuation through the coupled transport of momentum and heat. In the normal state, the sound diffusivity D monotonically decreases upon lowering the temperature, in contrast to the diverging behavior of weakly interacting Fermi liquids. Below the superfluid transition temperature, D attains a universal value set by the ratio of Planck's constant and the particle mass. Our findings inform theories of fermion transport, with relevance for hydrodynamic flow of electrons, neutrons, and quarks.

BCS-BEC Crossover Effects and Pseudogap in Neutron Matter

Due to the large neutron–neutron scattering length, dilute neutron matter resembles the unitary Fermi gas, which lies half-way in the crossover from the BCS phase of weakly coupled Cooper pairs to the Bose–Einstein condensate of dimers. We discuss crossover effects in analogy with the T-matrix theory used in the physics of ultracold atoms, which we generalize to the case of a non-separable finite-range interaction. A problem of the standard Nozières–Schmitt-Rink approach and different ways to solve it are discussed. It is shown that in the strong-coupling regime, the spectral function exhibits a pseudo-gap at temperatures above the critical temperature Tc. The effect of the correlated density on the density dependence of Tc is found to be rather weak, but a possibly important effect due to the reduced quasiparticle weight is identified.

Measurement of the Canonical Equation of State of a Weakly Interacting 3D Bose Gas

Using a multiple-image reconstruction method applied to a harmonically trapped Bose gas, we determine the equation of state of uniform matter across the critical transition point, within the local density approximation. Our experimental results provide the canonical description of pressure as a function of the specific volume, emphasizing the dramatic deviations from the ideal Bose gas behavior caused by interactions. They also provide clear evidence for the nonmonotonic behavior with temperature of the chemical potential, which is a consequence of superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation. The measured thermodynamic quantities are compared to mean-field predictions available for the interacting Bose gas. The limits of applicability of the local density approximation near the critical point are also discussed, focusing on the behavior of the isothermal compressibility.

High Temperature Virial Expansion to Universal Quench Dynamics

High temperature virial expansion is a powerful tool in equilibrium statistical mechanics. In this Letter we generalize the high temperature virial expansion approach to treat far-from-equilibrium quench dynamics. As an application of our framework, we study the dynamics of a Bose gas quenched from noninteracting to unitarity, and we compare our theoretical results with unexplained experimental results by the Cambridge group [Eigen et al., Nature 563, 221 (2018)]. We show that, during the quench dynamics, the momentum distribution decreases for the low-momentum part with k<k^{*}, and increases for high-momentum part with k>k^{*}, where k^{*} is a characteristic momentum scale separating the low- and the high-momentum regimes. We determine the universal value of k^{*}λ that agrees perfectly with the experiment, with λ being the thermal de Broglie wavelength. We also find a jump of the halfway relaxation time across k^{*}λ and the nonmonotonic behavior of energy distribution, both of which agree with the experiment. Finally, we address the issue whether the longtime steady state thermalizes or not, and we find that this state reaches a partial thermalization, namely, it thermalizes for the low-energy part with kλ≲1 but does not thermalize for the very high momentum tail with kλ≫1. Our framework can also be applied to quench dynamics in other systems.

Doublon-Hole Correlations and Fluctuation Thermometry in a Fermi-Hubbard Gas

We report on the single atom and single site-resolved detection of the total density in a cold atom realization of the 2D Fermi-Hubbard model. Fluorescence imaging of doublons is achieved by splitting each lattice site into a double well, thereby separating atom pairs. Full density readout yields a direct measurement of the equation of state, including direct thermometry via the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Site-resolved density correlations reveal the Pauli hole at low filling, and strong doublon-hole correlations near half filling. These are shown to account for the difference between local and nonlocal density fluctuations in the Mott insulator. Our technique enables the study of atom-resolved charge transport in the Fermi-Hubbard model, the site-resolved observation of molecules, and the creation of bilayer Fermi-Hubbard systems.

In Situ Thermometry of a Cold Fermi Gas via Dephasing Impurities

The precise measurement of low temperatures is a challenging, important, and fundamental task for quantum science. In particular, in situ thermometry is highly desirable for cold atomic systems due to their potential for quantum simulation. Here, we demonstrate that the temperature of a noninteracting Fermi gas can be accurately inferred from the nonequilibrium dynamics of impurities immersed within it, using an interferometric protocol and established experimental methods. Adopting tools from the theory of quantum parameter estimation, we show that our proposed scheme achieves optimal precision in the relevant temperature regime for degenerate Fermi gases in current experiments. We also discover an intriguing trade-off between measurement time and thermometric precision that is controlled by the impurity-gas coupling, with weak coupling leading to the greatest sensitivities. This is explained as a consequence of the slow decoherence associated with the onset of the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe, which dominates the gas dynamics following its local interaction with the immersed impurity.

Emergence of a Pseudogap in the BCS-BEC Crossover

Strongly correlated Fermi systems with pairing interactions become superfluid below a critical temperature T_{c}. The extent to which such pairing correlations alter the behavior of the liquid at temperatures T>T_{c} is a subtle issue that remains an area of debate, in particular regarding the appearance of the so-called pseudogap in the BCS-BEC crossover of unpolarized spin-1/2 nonrelativistic matter. To shed light on this, we extract several quantities of crucial importance at and around the unitary limit, namely, the odd-even staggering of the total energy, the spin susceptibility, the pairing correlation function, the condensate fraction, and the critical temperature T_{c}, using a nonperturbative, constrained-ensemble quantum Monte Carlo algorithm.

Fourth- and Fifth-Order Virial Coefficients from Weak Coupling to Unitarity

In the current era of precision quantum many-body physics, one of the most scrutinized systems is the unitary limit of the nonrelativistic spin-1/2 Fermi gas, due to its simplicity and relevance for atomic, condensed matter, and nuclear physics. The thermodynamics of this strongly correlated system is determined by universal functions which, at high temperatures, are governed by universal virial coefficients b_{n} that capture the effects of the n-body system on the many-body dynamics. Currently, b_{2} and b_{3} are well understood, but the situation is less clear for b_{4}, and no predictions have been made for b_{5}. To answer these open questions, we implement a nonperturbative analytic approach based on the Trotter-Suzuki factorization of the imaginary-time evolution operator, using progressively finer temporal lattice spacings. By means of these factorizations and automated algebra codes, we obtain the interaction-induced change Δb_{n} from weak coupling to unitarity. At unitarity, we find that Δb_{3}=-0.356(4) in agreement with previous results, Δb_{4}=0.062(2), which is in agreement with all previous theoretical estimates but at odds with experimental determinations, and Δb_{5}=0.078(6), which is a prediction. We show the impact of those answers on the density equation of state and Tan contact, and trace their origin back to their polarized and unpolarized components.

Contact in the Unitary Fermi Gas across the Superfluid Phase Transition

A quantity known as the contact is a fundamental thermodynamic property of quantum many-body systems with short-range interactions. Determination of the temperature dependence of the contact for the unitary Fermi gas of infinite scattering length has been a major challenge, with different calculations yielding qualitatively different results. Here we use finite-temperature auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFMC) methods on the lattice within the canonical ensemble to calculate the temperature dependence of the contact for the homogeneous spin-balanced unitary Fermi gas. We extrapolate to the continuum limit for 40, 66, and 114 particles, eliminating systematic errors due to finite-range effects. We observe a dramatic decrease in the contact as the superfluid critical temperature is approached from below, followed by a gradual weak decrease as the temperature increases in the normal phase. Our theoretical results are in excellent agreement with the most recent precision ultracold atomic gas experiments. We also present results for the energy as a function of temperature in the continuum limit.

Linear response of a superfluid Fermi gas inside its pair-breaking continuum

We study the signatures of the collective modes of a superfluid Fermi gas in its linear response functions for the order-parameter and density fluctuations in the Random Phase Approximation (RPA). We show that a resonance associated to the Popov-Andrianov (or sometimes "Higgs") mode is visible inside the pair-breaking continuum at all values of the wavevector q, not only in the (order-parameter) modulus-modulus response function but also in the modulus-density and density-density responses. At nonzero temperature, the resonance survives in the presence of thermally broken pairs even until the vicinity of the critical temperature Tc, and coexists with both the Anderson-Bogoliubov modes at temperatures comparable to the gap Δ and with the low-velocity phononic mode predicted by RPA near Tc. The existence of a Popov-Andrianov-"Higgs" resonance is thus a robust, generic feature of the high-energy phenomenology of pair-condensed Fermi gases, and should be accessible to state-of-the-art cold atom experiments.

High-Frequency Sound in a Unitary Fermi Gas

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the phonon mode in a unitary Fermi gas. Using two-photon Bragg spectroscopy, we measure excitation spectra at a momentum of approximately half the Fermi momentum, both above and below the superfluid critical temperature T_{c}. Below T_{c}, the dominant excitation is the Bogoliubov-Anderson (BA) phonon mode, driven by gradients in the phase of the superfluid order parameter. The temperature dependence of the BA phonon is consistent with a theoretical model based on the quasiparticle random phase approximation in which the dominant damping mechanism is via collisions with thermally excited quasiparticles. As the temperature is increased above T_{c}, the phonon evolves into a strongly damped collisional mode, accompanied by an abrupt increase in spectral width. Our study reveals strong similarities between sound propagation in the unitary Fermi gas and bosonic liquid helium.

Pairing Correlations across the Superfluid Phase Transition in the Unitary Fermi Gas

In the two-component Fermi gas with a contact interaction, a pseudogap regime can exist at temperatures between the superfluid critical temperature T_{c} and a temperature T^{*}>T_{c}. This regime is characterized by pairing correlations without superfluidity. However, in the unitary limit of infinite scattering length, the existence of this regime is still debated. To help address this, we have applied finite-temperature auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFMC) methods to study the thermodynamics of the superfluid phase transition and signatures of the pseudogap in the spin-balanced homogeneous unitary Fermi gas. We present results at finite filling factor ν≃0.06 for the condensate fraction, an energy-staggering pairing gap, the spin susceptibility, and the heat capacity, and compare them to experimental data when available. In contrast to previous AFMC simulations, our model space consists of the complete first Brillouin zone of the lattice, and our calculations are performed in the canonical ensemble of fixed particle number. The canonical ensemble AFMC framework enables the calculation of a model-independent gap, providing direct information on pairing correlations without the need for numerical analytic continuation. We use finite-size scaling to estimate T_{c} at the corresponding filling factor. We find that the energy-staggering pairing gap vanishes above T_{c}, showing no pseudogap effects, and that the spin susceptibility shows a substantially reduced signature of a spin gap compared to previously reported AFMC simulations.

Oscillatory-like expansion of a Fermionic superfluid

We study the expansion behaviors of a Fermionic superfluid in a cigar-shaped optical dipole trap for the whole BEC-BCS crossover and various temperatures. At low temperature (0.06(1)T_F), the atom cloud undergoes an anisotropic hydrodynamic expansion over 30 ms, which behaves like oscillation in the horizontal plane. By analyzing the expansion dynamics according to the superfluid hydrodynamic equation, the effective polytropic index γ¯ of Equation-of-State (EoS) of Fermionic superfluid is extracted. The γ¯ values show a non-monotonic behavior over the BEC-BCS crossover, and have a good agreement with the theoretical results in the unitarity and BEC side. The normalized quasi-frequencies of the oscillatory expansion are measured, which drop significantly from the BEC side to the BCS side and reach a minimum value of 1.73 around 1/k_Fa=-0.25. Our work improves the understanding of the dynamic properties of strongly interacting Fermi gas.

Measuring the Hydrodynamic Linear Response of a Unitary Fermi Gas

We directly observe the hydrodynamic linear response of a unitary Fermi gas confined in a box potential and subject to a spatially periodic optical potential that is translated into the cloud at speeds ranging from subsonic to supersonic. We show that the time-dependent change of the density profile is sensitive to the thermal conductivity, which controls the relaxation rate of the temperature gradients and hence the responses arising from adiabatic and isothermal compression.

Spectral Response and Contact of the Unitary Fermi Gas

We measure radio frequency (rf) spectra of the homogeneous unitary Fermi gas at temperatures ranging from the Boltzmann regime through quantum degeneracy and across the superfluid transition. For all temperatures, a single spectral peak is observed. Its position smoothly evolves from the bare atomic resonance in the Boltzmann regime to a frequency corresponding to nearly one Fermi energy at the lowest temperatures. At high temperatures, the peak width reflects the scattering rate of the atoms, while at low temperatures, the width is set by the size of fermion pairs. Above the superfluid transition, and approaching the quantum critical regime, the width increases linearly with temperature, indicating non-Fermi-liquid behavior. From the wings of the rf spectra, we obtain the contact, quantifying the strength of short-range pair correlations. We find that the contact rapidly increases as the gas is cooled below the superfluid transition.

Contact and Sum Rules in a Near-Uniform Fermi Gas at Unitarity

We present an experimental study of the high-energy excitation spectra of unitary Fermi gases. Using focused beam Bragg spectroscopy, we locally probe atoms in the central region of a harmonically trapped cloud where the density is nearly uniform, enabling measurements of the dynamic structure factor for a range of temperatures both below and above the superfluid transition. Applying sum rules to the measured Bragg spectra, we resolve the characteristic behavior of the universal contact parameter, C, across the superfluid transition. We also employ a recent theoretical result for the kinetic (second-moment) sum rule to obtain the internal energy of gases at unitarity.

Nonperturbative Extraction of the Effective Mass in Neutron Matter

We carry out nonperturbative calculations of the single-particle excitation spectrum in strongly interacting neutron matter. These are microscopic quantum Monte Carlo computations of many-neutron energies at different densities as well as several distinct excited states. As input, we employ both phenomenological and chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions. We use the single-particle spectrum to extract the effective mass in neutron matter. With a view to systematizing the error involved in this extraction, we carefully assess the impact of finite-size effects on the quasiparticle dispersion relation. We find an effective-mass ratio that drops from 1 as the density is increased. We conclude by connecting our results with the physics of ultracold gases as well as with energy-density functional theories of nuclei and neutron-star matter.

Boiling a Unitary Fermi Liquid

We study the thermal evolution of a highly spin-imbalanced, homogeneous Fermi gas with unitarity limited interactions, from a Fermi liquid of polarons at low temperatures to a classical Boltzmann gas at high temperatures. Radio-frequency spectroscopy gives access to the energy, lifetime, and short-range correlations of Fermi polarons at low temperatures T. In this regime, we observe a characteristic T^{2} dependence of the spectral width, corresponding to the quasiparticle decay rate expected for a Fermi liquid. At high T, the spectral width decreases again towards the scattering rate of the classical, unitary Boltzmann gas, ∝T^{-1/2}. In the transition region between the quantum degenerate and classical regime, the spectral width attains its maximum, on the scale of the Fermi energy, indicating the breakdown of a quasiparticle description. Density measurements in a harmonic trap directly reveal the majority dressing cloud surrounding the minority spins and yield the compressibility along with the effective mass of Fermi polarons.

Reduced Quantum Anomaly in a Quasi-Two-Dimensional Fermi Superfluid: Significance of the Confinement-Induced Effective Range of Interactions

A two-dimensional (2D) harmonically trapped interacting Fermi gas is anticipated to exhibit a quantum anomaly and possesses a breathing mode at frequencies different from a classical scale-invariant value ω_{B}=2ω_{⊥}, where ω_{⊥} is the trapping frequency. The predicted maximum quantum anomaly (∼10%) has not been confirmed in experiments. Here, we theoretically investigate the zero-temperature density equation of state and the breathing mode frequency of an interacting Fermi superfluid at the dimensional crossover from three to two dimensions. We find that the simple model of a 2D Fermi gas with a single s-wave scattering length is not adequate to describe the experiments in the 2D limit, as commonly believed. A more complete description of quasi-2D leads to a much weaker quantum anomaly, consistent with the experimental observations. We clarify that the reduced quantum anomaly is due to the significant confinement-induced effective range of interactions.