Trapped Fermi gases as models of strongly interacting matter

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

This experimental research program explores an optically-trapped, strongly interacting Fermi gas of lithium-6 atoms as a model for exotic, strongly interacting matter in nature. The strength of the attraction or repulsion between the atoms is easily tuned using a magnetic field, enabling stringent tabletop tests of predictions for nuclear matter, which is not accessible to direct measurement. A primary goal of the program is the measurement of quantum viscosity, which will enable a test of a recent string theory conjecture on the minimum viscosity of strongly interacting "nearly perfect" fluids. The experimental program offers unprecedented opportunities to test state-of-the-art theoretical techniques that cross disciplinary boundaries, from high temperature superconductors in materials science, to the physics of the quark-gluon plasma that existed during the Big Bang of the early universe. The experiments have practical impact in helping to determine whether it is possible to create super-high temperature superconductors that operate far above room temperature?materials that would enable energy-saving power lines and magnetically levitated trains. Data from the experiments are provided to condensed matter and nuclear theorists in several countries, including the United States, Germany, China, and Australia. Further, the PI is part of an International Alliance started at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics in Heidelberg, which connects Fermi gases to high energy physics. The research program will also serve as a learning environment for undergraduate students, graduate students, and post doctoral associates who work as a team to devise, construct, and perform new experiments and then to theoretically analyze the results. Members of the team are engaged in all aspects of the program, and have the opportunity to write and present papers and to give talks at conferences.