Spontaneous separation of large-spin Fermi gas in the harmonic trap: a density functional study

The component separation of the trapped large-spin Fermi gas is studied within density functional theory. The ground state and ferromagnetic transition in the gas, with and without the spin mixing collision, are calculated. In the absence of spin mixing, two patterns of separation are observed as the interaction between atoms increases, whereas only one of them corresponds to a ferromagnetic transition. The phase diagram suggests that the pattern which the system chooses depends on the interaction strength in the collision channels. With the presence of spin mixing, the distribution of phase region changes because of the interplay between different collision channels. Specifically, the spin exchange benefits the FM transition, while it suppresses the component separation of CS-II pattern.