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Published Online January 27, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1109220

Reports

Submitted on December 28, 2004
Accepted on January 19, 2005

Heat Capacity of a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas

Joseph Kinast 1, Andrey Turlapov 1, John E. Thomas 1*, Qijin Chen 2, Jelena Stajic 2, Kathryn Levin 2

1 Physics Department, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0305, USA.
2 James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
John E. Thomas , E-mail: jet{at}phy.duke.edu

We have measured the heat capacity of an optically trapped strongly interacting Fermi gas of atoms. A precise measurement of the input of energy to the gas is followed by single-parameter thermometry, which determines the empirical temperature parameter of the gas cloud. Our measurements reveal a clear transition in the heat capacity. The energy and the spatial profile of the gas are computed using a theory of the crossover from Fermi to Bose superfluids at a finite temperature. The theory calibrates the empirical temperature parameter, yields excellent agreement with the data, and predicts the onset of superfluidity at the observed transition point.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)