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In this article we discuss the accuracy of effective one-dimensional theories used to describe the behavior of ultracold atomic ensembles confined in quantum wires by a harmonic trap. We derive within a fully many-body approach the effective Hamiltonian describing this class of systems and we calculate the beyond-mean field corrections to the energy of the ground state arising from virtual transitions towards excited state of the confining potential. We find that, due to the Pauli principle, effective finite-range corrections are one of magnitude larger than effective three-body interactions.By comparing to exact solutions of the purely 1D problem, we conclude that a 1D effective theory provides a good description of the ground state of the system for a rather large range of interaction parameters.

The ground-state properties of two-component repulsive Fermi gases in two dimensions are investigated by means of fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo simulations. The energy per particle is determined as a function of the intercomponent interaction strength and of the population imbalance. The regime of universality in terms of the s-wave scattering length is identified by comparing results for hard-disk and for soft-disk potentials. In the large imbalance regime, the equation of state turns out to be well described by a Landau-Pomeranchuk functional for two-dimensional polarons. To fully characterize this expansion, we determine the polarons' effective mass and their coupling parameter, complementing previous studies on their chemical potential. Furthermore, we extract the magnetic susceptibility from low-imbalance data, finding only small deviations from the mean-field prediction. While the mean-field theory predicts a direct transition from a paramagnetic to a fully ferromagnetic phase, our diffusion Monte Carlo results suggest that the partially ferromagnetic phase is stable in a narrow interval of the interaction parameter. This finding calls for further analyses on the effects due to the fixed-node constraint., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method and exact diagonalization, we study the non-equilibrium dynamics of the one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model following a quantum quench or a ramp of the onsite interaction strength. For quenches from the non-interacting to the attractive regime, we investigate the dynamical emergence of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) correlations, which at finite spin polarizations are the dominant two-body correlations in the ground state, and their signatures in the pair quasi-momentum distribution function. We observe that the post-quench double occupancy exhibits a maximum as the interaction strength becomes of the order of the bandwidth. Finally, we study quenches and ramps from attractive to repulsive interactions, which imprint FFLO correlations onto repulsively bound pairs. We show that a quite short ramp time is sufficient to wipe out the characteristic FFLO features in the post-quench pair momentum distribution functions., Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, minor revisions, version as published

We study the sudden expansion of spin-imbalanced ultracold lattice fermions with attractive interactions in one dimension after turning off the longitudinal confining potential. We show that the momentum distribution functions of majority and minority fermions approach stationary values quickly due to a quantum distillation mechanism that results in a spatial separation of pairs and majority fermions. As a consequence, Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) correlations are lost during the expansion. Furthermore, we argue that the shape of the stationary momentum distribution functions can be understood by relating them to the integrals of motion in this integrable quantum system. We discuss our results in the context of proposals to observe FFLO correlations, related to recent experiments by Liao et al., Nature 467, 567 (2010)., Comment: 8 pages including supplementary material, 9 eps figures, revised version as published, some text moved to the supplemental material

We calculate the density profiles of a trapped spin-imbalanced Fermi gas with attractive interactions in a one-dimensional optical lattice, using both the local density approximation (LDA) and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations. Based on the exact equation of state obtained by Bethe ansatz, LDA predicts that the gas phase-separates into shells with a partially polarized core and fully paired wings, where the latter occurs below a critical spin polarization. This behavior is also seen in numerically exact DMRG calculations at sufficiently large particle numbers. Unlike the continuum case, we show that the critical polarization is a non monotonic function of the interaction strength and vanishes in the limit of large interactions., Comment: 7 pages Revtex4, 9 eps figures; version as published, minor revisions

We compute the absorption spectrum of strongly repulsive one-dimensional bosons in a disordered or quasi-periodic optical lattice. At commensurate filling, the particle-hole resonances of the Mott insulator are broadened as the disorder strength is increased. In the non-commensurate case, mapping the problem to the Anderson model allows us to study the Bose-glass phase. Surprisingly we find that a perturbative treatment in both cases, weak and strong disorder, gives a good description at all frequencies. In particular we find that the infrared absorption rate in the thermodynamic limit is quadratic in frequency. This result is unexpected, since for other quantities like the conductivity in one dimensional systems, perturbation theory is only applicable at high frequencies. We discuss applications to recent experiments on optical lattice systems, and in particular the effect of the harmonic trap., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

We investigate the ground state properties of a disordered superfluid Fermi gas across the BCS-BEC (Bose Einstein condensate) crossover. We show that, for weak disorder, both the depletion of the condensate fraction of pairs and the normal fluid density exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of the interaction parameter $1/k_Fa$, reaching their minimum value near unitarity. We find that, moving away from the weak coupling BCS regime, Anderson's theorem ceases to apply and the superfluid order parameter is more and more affected by the random potential., Comment: Revised version, one reference added, Phys. Rev. Lett. in press

Interacting Fermi gases with equal populations but unequal masses are investigated at zero temperature using local density approximation and the hydrodynamic theory of superfluids in the presence of harmonic trapping. We derive the conditions of energetic stability of the superfluid configuration with respect to phase separation and the frequencies of the collective oscillations in terms of the mass ratio and the trapping frequencies of the two components. We discuss the behavior of the gas after the trapping potential of a single component is switched off and show that, near a Feshbach resonance, the released component can still remain trapped due to many-body interaction effects. Explicit predictions are presented for a mixture of $^6$Li and $^{40}$K with resonant interaction., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We investigate two-component attractive Fermi gases with imbalanced spin populations in trapped one dimensional configurations. The ground state properties are determined within local density approximation, starting from the exact Bethe-ansatz equations for the homogeneous case. We predict that the atoms are distributed according to a two-shell structure: a partially polarized phase in the center of the trap and either a fully paired or a fully polarized phase in the wings. The partially polarized core is expected to be a superfluid of the FFLO type. The size of the cloud as well as the critical spin polarization needed to suppress the fully paired shell, are calculated as a function of the coupling strength., Comment: Final accepted version

We use Bogoliubov theory to calculate the beyond mean field correction to the equation of state of a weakly interacting Bose gas in the presence of a tight 2D optical lattice. We show that the lattice induces a characteristic 3D to 1D crossover in the behaviour of quantum fluctuations. Using the hydrodynamic theory of superfluids, we calculate the corresponding shift of the collective frequencies of a harmonically trapped gas. We find that this correction can be of the order of a few percent and hence easily measurable in current experiments. The behavior of the quantum depletion of the condensate is also discussed., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We investigate the problem of two atoms interacting via a short range s-wave potential in the presence of a deep optical lattice of arbitrary dimension $D$. Using a tight binding approach, we derive analytical results for the properties of the bound state and the scattering amplitude. We show that the tunneling through the barriers induces a dimensional crossover from a confined regime at high energy to an anisotropic three dimensional regime at low energy. The critical value of the scattering length needed to form a two-body bound state shows a logaritmic dependence on the tunneling rate for D=1 and a power law for $D>1$. For the special case D=1, we also compare our analytical predictions with exact numerics, finding remarkably good agreement.

We calculate the superfluid transition temperature for a two-component 3D Fermi gas in a 1D tight optical lattice and discuss a dimensional crossover from the 3D to quasi-2D regime. For the geometry of finite size discs in the 1D lattice, we find that even for a large number of atoms per disc, the critical effective tunneling rate for a quantum transition to the Mott insulator state can be large compared to the loss rate caused by three-body recombination. This allows the observation of the Mott transition, in contrast to the case of Bose-condensed gases in the same geometry., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure

We calculate the binding energy of two atoms interacting near a Feshbach resonance in the presence of a 1D periodic potential. The critical value of the scattering length needed to produce a molecule as well as the value of the molecular binding energy in the unitarity limit of infinite scattering length are calculated as a function of the intensity of the laser field generating the periodic potential. The Bloch bandwidth and the effective mass of molecules are shown to depend strongly on the value of the scattering length due to the correlated motion of the two atoms., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We develop the hydrodynamic theory of Fermi superfluids in the presence of a periodic potential. The relevant parameters governing the propagation of sound (compressibility and effective mass) are calculated in the weakly interacting BCS limit. The conditions of stability of the superfluid motion with respect to creation of elementary excitations are discussed. We also evaluate the frequency of the center of mass oscillation when the superfluid gas is additionally confined by a harmonic trap., Comment: Version accepted in Phys. Rev. A. It contains a discussion on the dynamical instability of Fermi superfluids in optical lattices

The SU(2)xU(1) Chern-Simons spin-charge gauge approach developed earlier to describe the transport properties of the cuprate superconductors in the ``pseudogap'' regime, in particular, the metal-insulator crossover of the in-plane resistivity, is generalized to the ``strange metal'' phase at higher temperature/doping. The short-range antiferromagnetic order and the gauge field fluctuations, which were the key ingredients in the theory for the pseudogap phase, also play an important role in the present case. The main difference between these two phases is caused by the existence of an underlying statistical $\pi$-flux lattice for charge carriers in the former case, whereas the background flux is absent in the latter case. The Fermi surface then changes from small ``arcs'' in the pseudogap to a rather large closed line in the strange metal phase. As a consequence the celebrated linear in T dependence of the in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity is shown explicitly to recover. The doping concentration and temperature dependence of theoretically calculated in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity, spin-relaxation rate and AC conductivity are compared with experimental data, showing good agreement., Comment: 14 pages, 5 .eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B, revised version submitted on 24 Oct

Applying the recently developed spin-charge gauge theory for the pseudogap phase in cuprates, we propose a self-consistent explanation of several peculiar features of the far-infrared in-plane AC conductivity, including a broad peak as a function of frequency and significant anisotropy at low temperatures, along with a similar temperature-dependent in-plane anisotropy of DC conductivity in lightly doped cuprates. The anisotropy of the metal-insulator crossover scale is considered to be responsible for these phenomena. The obtained results are in good agreement with experiments. An explicit proposal is made to further check the theory., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B

Starting from the the Boltzmann equation, we study the center of mass oscillation of a harmonically trapped normal Fermi gas in the presence of a one-dimensional periodic potential. We show that for values of the the Fermi energy above the first Bloch band the center of mass motion is strongly damped in the collisional regime due to umklapp processes. This should be contrasted with the behaviour of a superfluid where one instead expects the occurrence of persistent Josephson-like oscillations., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, corrected typos

We propose an explanation of several experimental features related to the ``pseudogap'' in HTS cuprates in terms of a spin-charge gauge theory approach to the t-J model. The metal-insulator crossover as temperature decreases is explained from the competition between antiferromagnetism and dissipative charge dynamics. We show that gauge interactions bind spinon and holon into an electron resonance, whose recombination time shows up in the out-of-plane resistivity. The theoretical results are sistematically compared with experimental data, finding a very good agreement., Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures. Revised version, added references. To appear in Phys. Rev. B