The superfluid state of atomic 6-Li in a magnetic trap

Abstract

We report on a study of the superfluid atate of spin-polarized atomic 6-Li confined in a magnetic trap. Density profiles of this degenerate Fermi gas, and the spatial distribution of the BCS order parameter are calculated in the local density approximation. The critical temperature is determined as a function of the number of particles in the trap. Furthermore we consider the mechanical stability of an interacting two-component Fermi gas, both in the case of attractive and repulsive interatomic interactions. For spin-polarized 6-Li we also calculate the decay rate of the gas, and show that within the mechanically stable regime of phase space, the lifetime is long enough to preform experiments on the gas below and above the critical temperature if a bias magnetic field of about 5 T is applied. Moreover, we propose that a measurement of the decay rate of the system might signal the presence of the superfluid state.