Stability of a Three-Component Fermi Gas
Date of Award
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Physics
First Advisor
Navon, Nir
Abstract
The experimental study of ultracold quantum gases has provided remarkable insights into both few- and many-body properties. These systems are well known for both their precision and tunability, and it is this latter property that allows them to effectively simulate quantum matter across a vast range of conditions, revealing universal physics. In particular, ultracold gas experiments have made many fundamental contributions to understanding the two-component (spin-1/2) Fermi gas. However experiments with higher spin systems have been much rarer, and a more complete understanding of their stability would open far-reaching opportunities for quantum simulation. This thesis reports our experiments characterizing the stability of the three-component Fermi gas. This system is known to display loss resonances related to Efimov physics, however previous experimental work was restricted to studying the spin-balanced (unpolarized) gas in harmonic traps. We expand on these measurements by studying the stability of a uniform system with controllable polarization. We find anomalous loss behavior that qualitatively disagrees with previous assumptions about the nature of these losses. We develop a generalized loss equation to model this behavior, and we systematically rule out various technical explanations. Finally, we present a conjectural model which may hint at the ultimate explanation of this surprising behavior.
Recommended Citation
Schumacher, Grant, "Stability of a Three-Component Fermi Gas" (2024). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1284.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1284
