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Phys. Rev. A 78, 011601(R) (2008) [4 pages]

Pair breaking in rotating Fermi gases

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Michael Urban1 and Peter Schuck1,2
1Institut de Physique Nucléaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Université Paris-Sud, 91406 Orsay Cedex, France
2Laboratoire de Physique et Modélisation des Milieux Condensés, CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, Maison des Magistères, Boîte Postale 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex, France

Received 17 April 2008; published 9 July 2008

We study the pair-breaking effect of rotation on a cold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover region. In the framework of BCS theory, which is supposed to be qualitatively correct at zero temperature, we find that in a trap rotating around a symmetry axis, three regions have to be distinguished: (A) a region near the rotational axis where the superfluid stays at rest and where no pairs are broken, (B) a region where the pairs are progressively broken with increasing distance from the rotational axis, resulting in an increasing rotational current, and (C) a normal-fluid region where all pairs are broken and which rotates like a rigid body. Due to region B, density and current do not exhibit any discontinuities.

© 2008 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.78.011601
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.78.011601
PACS:
03.75.Kk, 03.75.Ss, 67.85.De, 67.85.Lm