Evolution of interference patterns of strongly interacting Fermi gases in a harmonic trap

Abstract

We study the evolution of the interference patterns of strongly interacting Fermi gases in a harmonic trap after removal of the optical lattice, by numerically solving the superfluid order-parameter equation. We find that for the strongly interacting Fermi gas elastic collisions during the expansion blur the interference peaks. In order to obtain a nearly ballistic expansion, the fast magnetic field ramp technique is applied in experiment. We simulate the fast magnetic field ramp process before expansions of strongly interacting Fermi gases. We find that clear interference patterns are formed, and oscillate for a long time in the harmonic trap. We also calculate the interference patterns in different superfluid regimes, which accord with the experimental observations.