Spin-dipole mode in a trapped Fermi gas near unitarity

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the spin-dipole oscillation of a strongly interacting Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. By using a combined diagrammatic strong-coupling theory with a local density approximation and a sum rule approach, we clarify the temperature dependence of the spin-dipole frequency near the unitarity, which is deeply related to the spin susceptibility, as well as pairing correlations. While the spin-dipole frequency exactly coincides with the trap frequency in a non-interacting Fermi gas, it is shown to remarkably be enhanced in the superfluid state, because of the suppression of the spin degree of freedom due to the spin-singlet Cooper-pair formation. In strongly interacting Fermi gases, this enhancement occurs even above the superfluid phase transition temperature, due to the strong pairing correlations.

Comments: 15 pages, 7 figures