Energy dynamics of a nonequilibrium unitary Fermi gas

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Authors: Xiangchuan Yan, Jing Min, Dali Sun, Shi-Guo Peng, Xin Xie, Xingwang Wu, Jiqi Li, Wenxing Yang, Kaijun Jiang
Cited by: 0
References: 45

Abstract

We investigate the energy dynamics of a unitary Fermi gas driven away from equilibrium. The energy is injected into the system by periodically modulating the trapping potential of a spherical unitary Fermi gas, and due to the existence of SO(2,1) symmetry, the breathing mode is excited without dissipation. Through the long-lived breathing oscillation, we precisely measure the energy evolution of the nonequilibrium system during the trap modulation. We find the trapping potential and internal energies increase with modulation time and simultaneously oscillate nearly $\textrm{180}^{\textrm{o}}$ out of phase. At large modulation amplitudes, the energy-injection efficiency is strongly reduced due to the trap anharmonicity. Unlike the equilibrium system, the measured energy evolution agrees well with predictions of the dynamic virial theorem. Our work provides valuable insights into the energy injection and redistribution in a non-equilibrium system, paving a way for future investigations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Quantum superfluid helium dynamics

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical Review A
Volume
113
Issue
5
Publication date
24 April 2026
Language
EN