Observation of a pairing pseudogap in a two-dimensional Fermi gas

Pairing of fermions is ubiquitous in nature, underlying many phenomena. Examples include superconductivity, superfluidity of He-3, the anomalous rotation of neutron stars, and the crossover between Bose-Einstein condensation of dimers and the BCS (Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer) regime in strongly interacting Fermi gases. When confined to two dimensions, interacting many-body systems show even more subtle effects(1), many of which are not understood at a fundamental level. Most striking is the (as yet unexplained) phenomenon of high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides, which is intimately related to the two-dimensional geometry of the crystal structure. In particular, it is not understood how the many-body pairing is established at high temperature, and whether it precedes superconductivity. Here we report the observation of a many-body pairing gap above the superfluid transition temperature in a harmonically trapped, two-dimensional atomic Fermi gas in the regime of strong coupling. Our measurements of the spectral function of the gas are performed using momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy(2,3), analogous to angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the solid state(4). Our observations mark a significant step in the emulation of layered two-dimensional strongly correlated superconductors using ultracold atomic gases.