Time-Resolved Observation of Competing Attractive and Repulsive Short-Range Correlations in Strongly Interacting Fermi Gases
Abstract
We exploit a time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopic technique to study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of an ultracold two-component Fermi gas, selectively quenched to strong repulsion along the upper branch of a broad Feshbach resonance. For critical interactions, we find the rapid growth of short-range anticorrelations between repulsive fermions to initially overcome concurrent pairing processes. At longer evolution times, these two competing mechanisms appear to macroscopically coexist in a short-range correlated state of fermions and pairs, unforeseen thus far. Our work provides fundamental insights into the fate of a repulsive Fermi gas, and offers new perspectives towards the exploration of complex dynamical regimes of fermionic matter.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.253602
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1807.10208
- Bibcode:
- 2018PhRvL.121y3602A
- Keywords:
-
- Condensed Matter - Quantum Gases;
- Physics - Atomic Physics
- E-Print:
- 5+11 pages, 4+11 figures, 54 references