Mean-field vs RPA calculation of the energy of an impurity immersed in a spin 1/2 superfluid

TL;DR

This paper compares mean-field and RPA methods for calculating the energy of an impurity in a spin 1/2 superfluid, emphasizing the importance of quasiparticle interactions for accurate results and experimental observability.

Contribution

It demonstrates that including quasiparticle interactions via RPA regularizes impurity energy calculations beyond mean-field theory.

Findings

RPA regularizes impurity energy calculations.

Quasiparticle interactions are crucial beyond mean-field.

Impurity frequency shifts are experimentally detectable.

Abstract

In this article we calculate the energy of an impurity weakly coupled to a spin 1/2 fermionic superfluid. We show that the divergences resulting from three-body physics can only be cured using a proper description of the excitations of the many-body background. We highlight the crucial role played by interactions between quasiparticles which are overlooked within BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) mean-field theory of fermionic superfluidity. By contrast, we prove that their addition using the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) allows us to regularize the energy of the impurity. Finally, we show that these beyond mean-field corrections should be observable by the analysis of the frequency shift of the impurity center of mass oscillations in an external confining potential.