Gabriel Theilacker Assumpcao

We report thermodynamic and dynamical measurements of a degenerate Fermi gas in a homogeneous optical box trap realizing a piston of light. Fast control of the piston using digital micromirror devices enabled Joule expansion experiments in weakly interacting and unitary Fermi gases, where opposite temperature changes consistent with their Joule coefficients were observed. Time-resolved measurements showed ballistic expansion for the ideal gas and self-similar front dynamics in the unitary gas consistent with Euler hydrodynamics. We also investigated the effects of piston velocity, wall softness, and micromirror flickering  on achieving adiabatic transformations of the trapped gases. These results identify limitations to quasi-static transformations and demonstrate dynamical optical box traps as a promising platform for quantum simulations.