Thermodynamic signatures for topological phase transitions to Majorana and Weyl superfluids in ultracold Fermi gases

TL;DR

This paper investigates thermodynamic signatures of topological phase transitions to Majorana and Weyl superfluids in ultracold Fermi gases, identifying key observable quantities that signal these transitions in experiments.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of thermodynamic properties indicating topological phase transitions in 2D and 3D Fermi gases with spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman fields, highlighting measurable signatures.

Findings

Isothermal compressibility shows strong signatures of topological transitions.

Chemical potential varies distinctly across phase boundaries.

Thermodynamic quantities can be used to detect Majorana and Weyl phases experimentally.

Abstract

We discuss the thermodynamic signatures for the topological phase transitions into Majorana and Weyl superfluid phases in ultracold Fermi gases in two and three dimensions in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and a Zeeman field. We analyze the thermodynamic properties exhibiting the distinct nature of the topological phase transitions linked with the Majorana fermions (2D Fermi gas) and Weyl fermions (3D Fermi gas) which can be observed experimentally, including pressure, chemical potential, isothermal compressibility, entropy, and specific heat, as a function of the interaction and the Zeeman field at both zero and finite temperatures. We conclude that among the various thermodynamic quantities, the isothermal compressibility and the chemical potential as a function of the artificial Zeeman field have the strongest signatures of the topological transitions in both two and three dimensions.