Spin-polarized fermions with $p$-wave interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates high-density spin-polarized fermionic ${^6}$Li gases, characterizing elastic and inelastic $p$-wave collisions, and demonstrating $p$-wave evaporation and thermalization effects away from Feshbach resonances.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of $p$-wave scattering properties and inelastic processes in a high-density fermionic gas far from Feshbach resonances.

Findings

$p$-wave evaporation achieved at $T/T_F=0.42$

Measured $p$-wave background scattering volume as $|V_p|=(39^{+1.3}_{-1.6}a_0)^3$

Observed $p$-wave dipolar relaxation leading to a metastable hyperfine mixture

Abstract

We study quantum degenerate Fermi gases of ${^6}$Li atoms at high densities ($10^{15}$ cm$^{-3}$) and observe elastic and inelastic $p$-wave collisions far away from any Feshbach resonance. $P$-wave evaporation reaches temperatures of $T/T_F=0.42$ partially limited by the slow transfer of energy from high to low velocities through $p$-wave collisions. Via cross-dimensional thermalization, the $p$-wave background scattering volume is determined to be $\lvert V_p \rvert =(39^{+1.3}_{-1.6}a_0)^3$. $P$-wave dipolar relaxation creates a metastable mixture of the lowest and highest hyperfine states.