Ultracold Fermion Cooling Cycle using Heteronuclear Feshbach Resonances

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cooling cycle for ultracold fermions using heteronuclear Feshbach resonances, which can potentially exponentially increase phase-space density by adiabatic molecule formation and dissociation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cooling cycle based on Feshbach resonances in a three-component Bose-Fermi mixture, mapping its phase diagram and analyzing adiabatic processes.

Findings

Potential for exponential phase-space density increase

Phase diagram of Bose-Fermi mixture with Feshbach resonance mapped

Cooling cycle feasible under ideal conditions

Abstract

We consider an ideal gas of Bose and Fermi atoms in a harmonic trap, with a Feshbach resonance in the interspecies atomic scattering that can lead to formation of fermionic molecules. We map out the phase diagram for this three-component mixture in chemical and thermal equilibrium. Considering adiabatic association and dissociation of the molecules, we identify a possible cooling cycle, which in ideal circumstances can yield an exponential increase of the phase-space density.