Oscillatory pairing amplitude and magnetic compressible-incompressible transitions in imbalanced fermionic superfluids in optical lattices of elongated tubes

Abstract

We study two-species fermion gases with attractive interaction in two-dimensional optical lattices producing an array of elongated tube confinements. Focusing on the interplay of Cooper pairing, spin imbalance (or magnetization) and intertube tunneling, we find the pairing gap can exhibit oscillatory behavior both along and across the tubes, reminiscent of a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase. We obtain a Bose-Hubbard-like phase diagram that shows that the magnetization of the system undergoes an incompressible-compressible transition as a function of magnetic field and intertube tunneling strength. We find the parity of tube-filling imbalance in incompressible states is protected by that of the oscillatory pairing gap. Finally, we discuss signatures of this transition and thus (indirectly) of the FFLO pairing in cold atom experiments.