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Pauli Blocking of Collisions in a Quantum Degenerate Atomic Fermi Gas

Published

Author(s)

B. L. DeMarco, S Papp, D S. Jin

Abstract

We have produced an interacting quantum degenerate Fermi gas of atoms composed of two spin-states of magnetically trapped 40K. The relative Fermi energies are adjusted by controlling the populations in each spin-state. Thermodynamic measurements reveal a resulting imbalance in the mean energy per particle between the two species, which is a factor of 1.4 at our lowest temperature. This imbalance of energy comes from a suppression of collisions between atoms in the gas due to the Pauli exclusion principle. Through measurements of the thermal relaxation rate we have directly observed this Pauli blocking as a factor of 2 reduction in the effective collision cross section in the quantum degenerate regime.
Citation
Physical Review Letters
Volume
86

Keywords

fermi gas, Pauli blocking

Citation

DeMarco, B. , Papp, S. and Jin, D. (2001), Pauli Blocking of Collisions in a Quantum Degenerate Atomic Fermi Gas, Physical Review Letters (Accessed July 27, 2024)

Issues

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Created June 1, 2001, Updated February 17, 2017