Paper detail

The fourth- and fifth-order virial coefficients from weak-coupling to unitarity

In the current era of precision quantum many-body physics, one of the most scrutinized systems is the unitary limit of the nonrelativistic spin-$1/2$ Fermi gas, due to its simplicity and relevance for atomic, condensed matter, and nuclear physics. The thermodynamics of this strongly correlated system is determined by universal functions which, at high temperature, are governed by universal virial coefficients $b_n$ that capture the effects of the $n$-body system on the many-body dynamics. Currently, $b_2$ and $b_3$ are well understood, but the situation is less clear for $b_4$, and no predictions have been made for $b_5$. To answer these open questions, we implement a nonperturbative analytic approach based on the Trotter-Suzuki factorization of the imaginary-time evolution operator, using progressively finer temporal lattice spacings. Implementing these factorizations and automated algebra codes, we obtain the interaction-induced change $Δb_n$ from weak coupling to unitarity. At unitarity, we find: $Δb_3 = -0.356(4)$, in agreement with previous results; $Δb_4 = 0.062(2)$, in agreement with all previous theoretical estimates but at odds with experimental determinations; and $Δb_5 = 0.078(6)$, which is a prediction. We show the impact of those answers on the density equation of state and Tan contact, and track their origin back to their polarized and unpolarized components.