Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory and the Real-Time Dynamics of Fermi Superfluids

TL;DR

This paper introduces a time-dependent density functional approach for superfluid Fermi systems, enabling the simulation of dynamic phenomena in cold atomic gases and nuclear physics, such as vortex dynamics and collective excitations.

Contribution

It presents the Superfluid Local Density Approximation, extending DFT to real-time superfluid Fermi systems, and applies it to various complex phenomena.

Findings

Successfully modeled vortex generation and reconnection.

Simulated Higgs mode excitations in Fermi superfluids.

Reproduced superflow and shock wave phenomena in atomic collisions.

Abstract

I describe the Time-Dependent Superfluid Local Density Approximation, which is an adiabatic extension of the Density Functional Theory to superfluid Fermi systems and their real-time dynamics. This new theoretical framework has been applied to describe a number of phenomena in cold atomic gases and nuclear collective motion: excitation of the Higgs modes in strongly interacting Fermi superfluids, generation of quantized vortices, crossing and reconnection of vortices, excitation of the superflow at velocities above the critical velocity, excitation of quantum shock waves and domain walls in the collisions of superfluid atomic clouds, excitation of collective states in nuclei.