Spin-polarized fermions with -wave interactions

We have created quantum degenerate Fermi gases of atoms at unprecedented high densities exceeding (where is the wavelength of resonant light). In this regime, new optical properties are predicted. Spin-polarized Fermi gases are usually regarded as noninteracting due to the weakness of -wave interactions. Here we study the properties of “-wave matter,” where elastic and inelastic -wave collisions determine the dynamics of the system. We characterize thermalization, evaporative cooling, and inelastic two-body and three-body collisions. -wave dipolar relaxation creates a metastable mixture of the lowest and highest hyperfine states.