Two-body relaxation in a Fermi gas at a p-wave Feshbach resonance

TL;DR

This study measures and models two-body loss rates in a Fermi gas near a p-wave Feshbach resonance, revealing loss suppression in quasi-2D traps that could enable p-wave superfluidity.

Contribution

It provides systematic experimental measurements and a theoretical model for two-body loss in a Fermi gas near a p-wave resonance, highlighting loss suppression in quasi-2D traps.

Findings

Loss rates depend on temperature and magnetic field.

Theoretical model accurately reproduces experimental data.

Loss suppression observed in quasi-2D traps.

Abstract

We systematically studied the two-body loss in a two-component Fermi gas of $^6$Li atoms near a p-wave Feshbach resonance. The two-body loss rate constants were measured for various temperatures and magnetic fields using atoms trapped in three-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional traps. Our results were nicely reproduced by a theoretical model that incorporates the two-body loss as an imaginary part to the inverse of the scattering volume in the scattering amplitude expression. The observed loss suppression in quasi-two-dimensional traps may provide a promising strategy to realize a p-wave superfluid in a system of ultracold atoms.