Viscosity of strongly interacting quantum fluids: spectral functions and sum rules

Feb, 2010
17 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.A 81 (2010) 053610
e-Print:

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Abstract: (arXiv)
The viscosity of strongly interacting systems is a topic of great interest in diverse fields. We focus here on the bulk and shear viscosities of \emph{non-relativistic} quantum fluids, with particular emphasis on strongly interacting ultracold Fermi gases. We use Kubo formulas for the bulk and shear viscosity spectral functions, ζ(ω)\zeta(\omega) and η(ω)\eta(\omega) respectively, to derive exact, non-perturbative results. Our results include: a microscopic connection between the shear viscosity η\eta and the normal fluid density ρn\rho_n; sum rules for ζ(ω)\zeta(\omega) and η(ω)\eta(\omega) and their evolution through the BCS-BEC crossover; universal high-frequency tails for η(ω)\eta(\omega) and the dynamic structure factor S(q,ω)S({\bf q}, \omega). We use our sum rules to show that, at unitarity, ζ(ω)\zeta(\omega) is identically zero and thus relate η(ω)\eta(\omega) to density-density correlations. We predict that frequency-dependent shear viscosity η(ω)\eta(\omega) of the unitary Fermi gas can be experimentally measured using Bragg spectroscopy.
Note:
  • Published version
  • 67.85.De
  • 67.10.Jn
  • 67.85.Lm
  • fluid: quantum
  • viscosity
  • sum rule
  • spectral representation
  • Fermi gas
  • strong interaction
  • fluid: nonrelativistic