Quantum criticality and universal scaling of strongly attractive spin-imbalanced Fermi gases in a one-dimensional harmonic trap

We investigate quantum criticality and universal scaling of strongly attractive Fermi gases confined in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. We demonstrate from the power-law scaling of the thermodynamic properties that current experiments on this system are capable of measuring universal features at quantum criticality, such as universal scaling and Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid physics. The results also provide insights on recent measurements of key features of the phase diagram of a spin-imbalanced atomic Fermi gas [Y. Liao , Nature (London)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature09393 467, 567 (2010)] and point to further study of quantum critical phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases.