Houbiers, M.Ferwerda, R.Stoof, H.T.C.McAlexander, W.I.Sackett, C.A.Hulet, R.G.2015-03-302015-03-301997Houbiers, M., Ferwerda, R., Stoof, H.T.C., et al.. "Superfluid state of atomic 6Li in a magnetic trap." <i>Physical Review A,</i> 56, no. 6 (1997) American Physical Society: 4864-4878. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.56.4864.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/79417We report on a study of the superfluid state of spin-polarized atomic 6Li confined in a magnetic trap. Density profiles of this degenerate Fermi gas and the spatial distribution of the BCS order parameter are calculated in the local-density approximation. The critical temperature is determined as a function of the number of particles in the trap. Furthermore, we consider the mechanical stability of an interacting two-component Fermi gas, in the case of both attractive and repulsive interatomic interactions. For spin-polarized 6Li we also calculate the decay rate of the gas and show that within the mechanically stable regime of phase space, the lifetime is long enough to perform experiments on the gas below and above the critical temperature if a bias magnetic field of about 5 T is applied. Moreover, we propose that a measurement of the decay rate of the system might signal the presence of the superfluid state.engArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.Journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.56.4864