Virial expansion for a three-component Fermi gas in one dimension: The quantum anomaly correspondence

Abstract

In this paper we explore the transport properties of three-component Fermi gases confined to one spatial dimension, interacting via a three-body interaction, in the high temperature limit. At the classical level, the three-body interaction is scale invariant in one dimension. However, upon quantization, an anomaly appears which breaks the scale invariance. This is very similar to the physics of two-component fermions in two spatial dimensions, where the two-body interaction is also anomalous. Previous studies have already hinted that the physics of these two systems are intimately related. Here we expand upon those studies by examining the thermodynamic properties of this anomalous one-dimensional system in the high temperature limit. We show there is an exact mapping between the traditional two-body anomalous interaction in two dimensions, to that of three-body interaction in one dimension. This result is valid in the high temperature limit, where the thermodynamics can be understood in terms of few-body correlations.