Dynamic structure factors of a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid near an orbital Feshbach resonance across the phase transition from BCS to Sarma superfluid

We theoretically investigate dynamic structure factors of a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid near an orbital Feshbach resonance with random phase approximation approach at zero temperature, and find their dynamical characters across the phase transition from a balanced conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to a polarized Sarma superfluid by continuously varying the chemical potential difference of two spin components. In a Bose-Einstein-condensate-like regime of the Fermi superfluid, dynamic structure factors can help distinguish the in-phase ground state from the out-of-phase metastable state by the relative location of molecular excitation and Leggett mode, or the minimum energy to break a Cooper pair. In the phase transition from BCS to Sarma superfluid, we find the dynamic structure factor of Sarma superfluid has its own specific gapless excitation at a small transferred momentum where the collective phonon excitation acquires a finite width, and also a relatively strong atomic excitation at a large transferred momentum, because of the existence of unpaired Fermi atoms. Our results can be used to differentiate Sarma superfluid from BCS superfluid.

Automated summary

By studying the dynamic structure factors of a strongly interacting Fermi superfluid, it is possible to differentiate between the characteristics of conventional BCS superfluid and Sarma superfluid in different phase transitions, especially in the Bose-Einstein-condensate-like regime of the Fermi superfluid.