Dispersive effects in the unitary Fermi gas

Abstract: We investigate within density functional theory various physical properties of the zero-temperature unitary Fermi gas which critically depend on the presence of a dispersive gradient term in the equation of state. First, we consider the unitary Fermi superfluid gas confined to a semi-infinite domain and calculate analytically its density profile and surface tension. Then we study the quadrupole modes of the superfluid system under harmonic confinement finding a reliable analytical formula for the oscillation frequency, which reduces to the familiar Thomas-Fermi one in the limit of a large number of atoms. Finally, we discuss the formation and propagation of dispersive shock waves in the collision between two resonant fermionic clouds, and compare our findings with recent experimental results.