This experimental research program will continue studies of strongly interacting fermions at the BCS/BEC crossover by probing the many-body quantum state via molecular spectroscopy, and by studying quantized vortices in the gas. Optical lattices can be used to model many of the lower dimension condensed matter systems. The low energy excitations are characterized by quasi-particles in which the spin and charge excitations decouple and propagate at different velocities. The group will create a Luttinger liquid of a two-component mixture of Li-6 atoms, using a two-dimensional optical lattice, and to look for a separation of the spin and charge degrees of freedom in its excitations. Finally, they will study a quantum phase transition in a mixture of Li-6 fermionic atoms and Li-7 bosons interacting via a Feshbach resonance. The broader impact of the program involves the enhanced understanding of real materials that may result from the successful implementation of the proposed objectives.
