Density profiles of polarized Fermi gases confined in harmonic traps

On the basis of the phase diagram of the uniform system, we calculate the density profiles of a trapped polarized Fermi gas at zero temperature using the local density approximation. By varying the overall polarization and the interaction strength, we analyze the appearance of a discontinuity in the profile, signaling a first-order phase transition from a superfluid inner core to a normal outer shell. The local population imbalance between the two components and the size of the various regions of the cloud corresponding to different phases are also discussed. The calculated profiles are quantitatively compared with the ones recently measured by Shin et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101 070404 (2008).