Concomitant Modulated Superfluidity In Polarized Fermionic Gases

Abstract

Recent groundbreaking experiments studying the effects of spin polarization on pairing in unitary Fermi gases encountered mutual qualitative and quantitative discrepancies which seem to be a function of the confining geometry. Using novel numerical algorithms we study the solution space for a 3-dimensional fully self-consistent formulation of realistic systems with up to $10^{5}$ atoms. A study of the three types of solutions obtained demonstrates a tendency towards metastability as the confining geometry is elongated. One of these solutions, which is consistent with Rice experiments at high trap aspect ratio, supports a state strikingly similar to the long sought Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state. Our study helps to resolve the long-standing controversy concerning the discrepancies between the findings from two different experimental groups and highlights the versatility of actual-size numerical calculations for investigating inhomogeneous fermionic superfluids.