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Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Cao, C; Elliott, E; Joseph, J; Wu, H; Petricka, J; Schäfer, T; Thomas, JE
Published in: Science (New York, N.Y.)
January 2011

A Fermi gas of atoms with resonant interactions is predicted to obey universal hydrodynamics, in which the shear viscosity and other transport coefficients are universal functions of the density and temperature. At low temperatures, the viscosity has a universal quantum scale ħ n, where n is the density and ħ is Planck's constant h divided by 2π, whereas at high temperatures the natural scale is p(T)(3)/ħ(2), where p(T) is the thermal momentum. We used breathing mode damping to measure the shear viscosity at low temperature. At high temperature T, we used anisotropic expansion of the cloud to find the viscosity, which exhibits precise T(3/2) scaling. In both experiments, universal hydrodynamic equations including friction and heating were used to extract the viscosity. We estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density and compare it with that of a perfect fluid.

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Published In

Science (New York, N.Y.)

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

ISSN

0036-8075

Publication Date

January 2011

Volume

331

Issue

6013

Start / End Page

58 / 61

Related Subject Headings

  • General Science & Technology
 

Citation

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Cao, C., Elliott, E., Joseph, J., Wu, H., Petricka, J., Schäfer, T., & Thomas, J. E. (2011). Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas. Science (New York, N.Y.), 331(6013), 58–61. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195219
Cao, C., E. Elliott, J. Joseph, H. Wu, J. Petricka, T. Schäfer, and J. E. Thomas. “Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas.Science (New York, N.Y.) 331, no. 6013 (January 2011): 58–61. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195219.
Cao C, Elliott E, Joseph J, Wu H, Petricka J, Schäfer T, et al. Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas. Science (New York, NY). 2011 Jan;331(6013):58–61.
Cao, C., et al. “Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas.Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 331, no. 6013, Jan. 2011, pp. 58–61. Epmc, doi:10.1126/science.1195219.
Cao C, Elliott E, Joseph J, Wu H, Petricka J, Schäfer T, Thomas JE. Universal quantum viscosity in a unitary Fermi gas. Science (New York, NY). 2011 Jan;331(6013):58–61.
Journal cover image

Published In

Science (New York, N.Y.)

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

ISSN

0036-8075

Publication Date

January 2011

Volume

331

Issue

6013

Start / End Page

58 / 61

Related Subject Headings

  • General Science & Technology