Search

We theoretically investigate normal-state properties of a unitary Bose-Fermi mixture. Including strong hetero-pairing fluctuations, we evaluate the Bose and Fermi chemical potential, internal energy, pressure, entropy, as well as specific heat at constant volume CV, within the framework of a combined strong-coupling theory with exact thermodynamic identities. We show that hetero-pairing fluctuations at the unitarity cause non-monotonic temperature dependence of CV, being qualitatively different from the monotonic behavior of this quantity in the weak- and strong-coupling limit. On the other hand, such an anomalous behavior is not seen in the other quantities. Our results indicate that the specific heat CV, which has recently become observable in cold atom physics, is a useful quantity for understanding strong-coupling aspects of this quantum system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically investigate the specific heat CV at constant volume in the normal state of a p-wave interacting Fermi gas. Including fluctuations in the p-wave Cooper channel within the framework of the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink, we clarify how CV as a function of temperature varies, as one moves from the weak-coupling regime to the strong-coupling limit. In the weak-coupling regime, CV is shown to be enhanced by p-wave pairing fluctuations, near the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc. Similar enhancement of CV(T ≃ Tc) is also obtained in the strong-coupling regime, which, however, reflects that system is close an ideal Bose gas of p-wave two-body bound molecules. Using these results, we classify the normal state into (1) the normal Fermi gas regime, (2) the p-wave molecular Bose gas regime, and (3) the region between the two, where p-wave pairing fluctuations are dominant. Since the current experiments can only access the normal phase of a p-wave interacting Fermi gas, our results would be useful for experiments to understand strong-coupling properties of this Fermi system above Tc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]