Transport experiments in ultra-cold fermions

Experiments studying cold atoms trapped by lasers have allowed to implement a number of models devised to describe condensed matter systems, such as Anderson localization, Cooper pairing or Mott insulators. These experiments have mainly focused on the investigation of models for bulk materials, but it has recently become possible to study device-like systems and particle transport through them. In this talk, I will present the experimental realization of the Landauer setup for cold atoms: two macroscopic atom reservoirs connected by a channel. This setup gives a direct access to the conductance of the gas, regardless of the interaction strength between particles. I will review some results obtained about strongly attractive Fermi gases with and without disorder. I will then present our recent measurements of thermoelectric power in a ballistic conductor, and its evolution as disorder is added in a controlled way. I will eventually present the perspectives opened by these experiments towards the modeling of mesoscopic devices with cold atoms.