Observation of conformal symmetry breaking and scale invariance in expanding Fermi gases

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We precisely test scale invariance and local thermal equilibrium in the hydrodynamic expansion of a Fermi gas of atoms as a function of interaction strength.

• After release from an anisotropic optical trap, we observe that a resonantly interacting gas obeys scale-invariant hydrodynamics, where the mean square cloud size $\langle{\mathbf{r}}^2\rangle=\langle x^2+y^2+z^2\rangle$ expands ballistically (like a noninteracting gas) and the energy-averaged bulk viscosity is consistent with zero, $0.005(0.016)\,\hbar\,n$, with $n$ the density.
• In contrast, the aspect ratios of the cloud exhibit anisotropic "elliptic" flow with an energy-dependent shear viscosity.
• Tuning away from resonance, we observe conformal symmetry breaking, where $\langle{\mathbf{r}}^2\rangle$ deviates from ballistic flow.