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# Transverse Demagnetization Dynamics of a Unitary Fermi Gas

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### Abstract

Understanding the quantum dynamics of strongly interacting fermions is a problem relevant to diverse forms of matter, including high-temperature superconductors, neutron stars, and quark-gluon plasma. An appealing benchmark is offered by cold atomic gases in the unitary limit of strong interactions. Here we study the dynamics of a transversely magnetized unitary Fermi gas in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. We observe the demagnetization of the gas, caused by diffusive spin transport. At low temperatures, the diffusion constant saturates to the conjectured quantum-mechanical lower bound $$\simeq \hbar/m$$, where $$m$$ is the particle mass. The development of pair correlations, indicating the transformation of the initially non-interacting gas towards a unitary spin mixture, is observed by measuring Tan's contact parameter.

### Most cited references22

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### Revealing the Superfluid Lambda Transition in the Universal Thermodynamics of a Unitary Fermi Gas

(2011)
We have observed the superfluid phase transition in a strongly interacting Fermi gas via high-precision measurements of the local compressibility, density and pressure down to near-zero entropy. Our data completely determine the universal thermodynamics of strongly interacting fermions without any fit or external thermometer. The onset of superfluidity is observed in the compressibility, the chemical potential, the entropy, and the heat capacity. In particular, the heat capacity displays a characteristic lambda-like feature at the critical temperature of $$T_c/T_F = 0.167(13)$$. This is the first clear thermodynamic signature of the superfluid transition in a spin-balanced atomic Fermi gas. Our measurements provide a benchmark for many-body theories on strongly interacting fermions, relevant for problems ranging from high-temperature superconductivity to the equation of state of neutron stars.
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### Similarity of Scattering Rates in Metals Showing T-Linear Resistivity

(2013)
Many exotic compounds, such as cuprate superconductors and heavy fermion materials, exhibit a linear in temperature (T) resistivity, the origin of which is not well understood. We found that the resistivity of the quantum critical metal Sr(3)Ru(2)O(7) is also T-linear at the critical magnetic field of 7.9 T. Using the precise existing data for the Fermi surface topography and quasiparticle velocities of Sr(3)Ru(2)O(7), we show that in the region of the T-linear resistivity, the scattering rate per kelvin is well approximated by the ratio of the Boltzmann constant to the Planck constant divided by 2π. Extending the analysis to a number of other materials reveals similar results in the T-linear region, in spite of large differences in the microscopic origins of the scattering.
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### Universal Spin Transport in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

(2011)
Transport of fermions is central in many fields of physics. Electron transport runs modern technology, defining states of matter such as superconductors and insulators, and electron spin, rather than charge, is being explored as a new carrier of information [1]. Neutrino transport energizes supernova explosions following the collapse of a dying star [2], and hydrodynamic transport of the quark-gluon plasma governed the expansion of the early Universe [3]. However, our understanding of non-equilibrium dynamics in such strongly interacting fermionic matter is still limited. Ultracold gases of fermionic atoms realize a pristine model for such systems and can be studied in real time with the precision of atomic physics [4, 5]. It has been established that even above the superfluid transition such gases flow as an almost perfect fluid with very low viscosity [3, 6] when interactions are tuned to a scattering resonance. However, here we show that spin currents, as opposed to mass currents, are maximally damped, and that interactions can be strong enough to reverse spin currents, with opposite spin components reflecting off each other. We determine the spin drag coeffcient, the spin diffusivity, and the spin susceptibility, as a function of temperature on resonance and show that they obey universal laws at high temperatures. At low temperatures, the spin diffusivity approaches a minimum value set by the ratio of the reduced Planck's constant to the atomic mass. For repulsive interactions, our measurements appear to exclude a metastable ferromagnetic state [7-9].
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### Author and article information

###### Journal
18 October 2013
2014-04-14
###### Article
10.1126/science.1247425
1310.5140