Spin susceptibility and effects of inhomogeneous strong pairing fluctuations in a trapped ultracold Fermi gas

Abstract

We theoretically investigate magnetic properties of a unitary Fermi gas in a harmonic trap. Including strong pairing fluctuations within the framework of an extended $T$-matrix approximation (ETMA), as well as effects of a trap potential within the local density approximation (LDA), we calculate the local spin susceptibility $\chi(T,r)$ above the superfluid phase transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$. We show that the formation of preformed singlet Cooper pairs anomalously suppresses $\chi(T,r)$ in the trap center near $T_{\rm c}$. We also point out that, in the unitarity limit, the spin-gap temperature in a uniform Fermi gas can be evaluated from the observation of the spatial variation of $\chi(T,r)$. Since a real ultracold Fermi gas is always in a trap potential, our results would be useful for the study of how this spatial inhomogeneity affects thermodynamic properties of an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover region.