What Can Ultracold Fermi Gases Teach Us About High Tc Superconductors and Vice Versa?

Studies of superfluidity in ultracold trapped Fermi gases are attracting physicists from a wide range of sub-disciplines including nuclear, condensed matter and particle physics. The excitement in the field is due, in large part, to the remarkable tuneability of these Fermi gases. One can tune the attractive interaction strength continuously from weak to strong (thereby effecting a transition from a BCS to Bose Einstein condensed (BEC) superfluid). One can introduce polarization into the gases at will, which may lead to long-sought-after, but not yet confirmed, exotic superfluid phases. In this talk we discuss the relevance of the cold Fermi gases to other physics subdisciplines. We then summarize how BCS-BEC crossover in the ultracold gases connects with a particularly important topic in condensed matter: high temperature superconductivity. We emphasize some striking similarities relating to the very unusual normal or 'pseudogap' phase of each of the two systems. In the process we give a summary of some of the latest exciting experimental developments in the two fields.