Basic theory tools for degenerate Fermi gases

Abstract

This is an introductory lecture to the theory of degenerate Fermi gases, in the context of present experiments on atomic Fermi gases. In part one, some properties of the ideal Fermi gas are presented, including a discussion of the fluctuations of the number of fermions in a given spatial zone in 1D, 2D and 3D. In part two, two-body aspects of the interaction potential are discussed and several possible models for the interaction are analyzed, including the two-channel model for the Feshbach resonance. In part three, basic predictions of zero temperature BCS theory are presented, including a derivation of superfluid hydrodynamic equations from time dependent BCS theory.