Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 250404 (2005) [4 pages]

Momentum Distribution of a Fermi Gas of Atoms in the BCS-BEC Crossover

Abstract

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C. A. Regal^1,*, M. Greiner¹, S. Giorgini^1,2, M. Holland¹, and D. S. Jin¹
¹JILA, Quantum Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA
²Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento and BEC-INFM, I-38050 Povo, Italy

Received 12 July 2005; published 16 December 2005

We observe dramatic changes in the atomic momentum distribution of a Fermi gas in the crossover region between the BCS theory superconductivity and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of molecules. We study the shape of the momentum distribution and the kinetic energy as a function of interaction strength. The momentum distributions are compared to a mean-field crossover theory, and the kinetic energy is compared to theories for the two weakly interacting limits. This measurement provides a unique probe of pairing in a strongly interacting Fermi gas.

URL:

http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.250404

DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.250404

PACS:

03.75.Ss, 05.30.Fk

^*Email address: regal@jilau1.colorado.edu

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 250404 (2005) [4 pages]

Momentum Distribution of a Fermi Gas of Atoms in the BCS-BEC Crossover