Collective modes of trapped Fermi gases in the normal phase

We consider the collective mode spectrum of a normal Fermi gas in a spherical harmonic trap. Using a self-consistent random-phase approximation, we systematically examine the effects of the two-body interactions on modes of various symmetries. For weak coupling, where the spectrum is shifted very little away from the ideal gas case, a sum-rule approach is shown to work well. For stronger coupling, the interplay between the single particle and collective excitations causes effects such as mode splitting and Landau damping. A finite low-frequency response present at stronger coupling is predicted for the quadrupole mode. Finally, we briefly discuss the effect of a finite temperature on the spectrum, and the excitation of higher collective modes.