A Fermi gas in a homogeneous box potential

Traditionally, bulk quantum gas experiments take place in inhomogeneous optical and/or magnetic traps. The properties of the homogeneous gas are in many cases masked by line-of-sight integration over the inhomogeneous sample. We report on the trapping of strongly interacting fermionic atoms ($^6$Li) in a quasi-homogenous all-optical potential. We characterize the potential flatness through in-trap imaging, and discuss progress towards directly observing the momentum distribution of the fermions in a box, with the prospect to test predictions from Fermi liquid theory for interacting gases. In contrast to inhomogeneous traps, box potentials prepare a system in one particular point of the phase diagram, giving access to the properties of bulk matter with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This sets a new direction for the exploration of strongly interacting Fermi gases at finite temperature and in the presence of spin imbalance.