Rotating a Rashba-coupled Fermi gas in two dimensions

Abstract

We analyze the interplay of adiabatic rotation and Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the BCS-BEC evolution of a harmonically-trapped Fermi gas in two dimensions under the assumption that vortices are not excited. First, by taking the trapping potential into account via both the semi-classical and exact quantum-mechanical approaches, we firmly establish the parameter regime where the non-interacting gas forms a ring-shaped annulus. Then, by taking the interactions into account via the BCS mean-field approximation, we study the pair-breaking mechanism that is induced by rotation, i.e., the Coriolis effects. In particular, we show that the interplay allows for the possibility of creating either an isolated annulus of rigidly-rotating normal particles that is disconnected from the central core of non-rotating superfluid pairs or an intermediate mediator phase where the superfluid pairs and normal particles coexist as a partially-rotating gapless superfluid.