Laser probing of Cooper-paired trapped atoms - art. no. 033609

We consider a gas of trapped Cooper-paired fermionic atoms that are manipul ated by laser light. The laser induces a transition from an internal state with large negative scattering length (superfluid) to one with weaker inter actions (normal gas). We show that the process can be used to detect the pr esence of the superconducting order parameter. Also, we propose a direct wa y of measuring the size of the gap in the trap. The efficiency and feasibil ity of this probing method is investigated in detail in different physical situations.