Spontaneous separation of two-component Fermi gases in a double-well trap

TL;DR

This paper investigates how two-component Fermi gases in a double-well trap undergo spontaneous spatial separation due to ferromagnetic transition, providing a method to explore itinerant ferromagnetism in atomic gases.

Contribution

It demonstrates that double-well traps can be used to observe spontaneous component separation as a signature of ferromagnetic transition in Fermi gases.

Findings

Components separate spatially when repulsive interaction exceeds the Stoner point

Double-well traps facilitate the study of itinerant ferromagnetism

Spontaneous separation can be detected via component populations

Abstract

The two-component Fermi gas in a double-well trap is studied using the density functional theory and the density profile of each component is calculated within the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We show that the two components are spatially separate in the two wells once the repulsive interaction exceeds the Stoner point, signaling the occurrence of the ferromagnetic transition. Therefore, the double-well trap helps to explore itinerant ferromagnetism in atomic Fermi gases, since the spontaneous separation can be examined by measuring component populations in one well.