Measuring the Speed of Sound in a 1D Fermi Gas

POSTER

Abstract

We have undertaken measurements of the speed of sound in a two-spin component, 1D gas of fermionic lithium. The 1D system is an array of one-dimensional tubes created by a 2D optical lattice. To measure the speed of sound, we create a localized density perturbation at the center of the atom cloud using a sheet of light. Depending on the laser's frequency, the atoms feel either a spin-sensitive or insensitive force\footnote{A. Recati, P. O. Fedichev, W. Zwerger, and P. Zoller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 020401 (2003).}. Once the lightsheet beam is turned off, the density perturbation propagates to the edge of the atomic cloud with a velocity that depends on the strength of interatomic interactions, which we control using a magnetically-tuned Feshbach resonance. This method may be used to extract the Luttinger parameter vs. interaction strength. We will report our progress.

Authors

  • Jacob Fry

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials

  • Yi Jin

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials

  • Anna Marchant

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials

  • Randall Hulet

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston TX, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice Univ