Ground state properties of an asymmetric Hubbard model for unbalanced ultracold fermionic quantum gases

In order to describe unbalanced ultracold fermionic quantum gases on optical lattices in a harmonic trap, we investigate an attractive (U > 0) asymmetric (t<Subscript>↑</Subscript>≠t<Subscript>↓</Subscript>) Hubbard model with a Zeeman-like magnetic field. In view of the model's spatial inhomogeneity, we focus in this paper on the solution at Hartree-Fock level. The Hartree-Fock Hamiltonian is diagonalized with particular emphasis on superfluid phases. For the special case of spin-independent hopping we analytically determine the number of solutions of the resulting self-consistency equations and the nature of the possible ground states at weak coupling. We present the phase diagram of the homogeneous system and numerical results for unbalanced Fermi-mixtures obtained within the local density approximation. In particular, we find a fascinating shell structure, involving normal and superfluid phases. For the general case of spin-dependent hopping we calculate the density of states and the possible superfluid phases in the ground state. In particular, we find a new magnetized superfluid phase. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2008