Variational theory of two-fluid hydrodynamic modes at unitarity

We present the results of a variational calculation of the frequencies of the low-lying Landau two-fluid hydrodynamic modes in a trapped Fermi superfluid gas at unitarity. Landau’s two-fluid hydrodynamics is expected to be the correct theory of Fermi superfluids at finite temperatures close to unitarity, where strong interactions give rise to collisional hydrodynamics. Two-fluid hydrodynamics predicts the existence of in-phase modes in which the superfluid and normal fluid components oscillate together, as well as out-of-phase modes where the two components move against each other. We prove that, at unitarity, the dipole and breathing in-phase modes are locally isentropic. Their frequencies are independent of temperature and are the same above and below the superfluid transition, a feature due as much to the harmonic trapping potential as to the thermodynamic properties at unitarity. The out-of-phase modes, in contrast, are strongly dependent on temperature and hence can be used to test the thermodynamic properties and superfluid density of a Fermi gas at unitarity. We give numerical results for the frequencies of these modes as function of temperature in an isotropic trap at unitarity.