Interaction-induced localization of fermionic mobile impurities in a Larkin-Ovchinnikov superfluid

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the interplay between the fermionic mobile impurity atoms and a Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) superfluid in a two dimensional optical lattice. We find that the impurity atoms get localized and can form pairs when the interaction between the impurity atoms and the LO superfluid is strong enough. These features are due to the phenomena of self-localization whose underlying mechanism is revealed by an effective model. The impurity atoms with finite concentrations can drive the transition from a two-dimensional-checkerboard-like LO state to a quasi-one-dimensional-stripe-like one. Experimental preparations to observe these features are also discussed.