Pairing effects in the normal phase of a two-dimensional Fermi gas

In a recent experiment [M. Feld et al., Nature (London) 480, 75 (2011); B. Frohlich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 130403 (2012)], a pairing gap was detected in a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gas with attractive interaction at temperatures where superfluidity does not occur. The question remains open as to whether this gap is a pseudogap phenomenon or is due to a molecular state. In this paper, by using a t-matrix approach, we reproduce quite well the experimental data for a 2D Fermi gas, and set the boundary between the pseudogap and molecular regimes. We also show that pseudogap phenomena occurring in 2D and 3D can be related through a variable spanning the BCS-BEC crossover in a universal way.