Degenerate atom-molecule mixture in a cold Fermi gas

We show that the atom-molecule mixture formed in a degenerate atomic Fermi gas with interspecies repulsion near a Feshbach resonance constitutes a peculiar system where the atomic component is almost nondegenerate but quantum degeneracy of molecules is important. We develop a thermodynamic approach for studying this mixture, explain experimental observations, and predict optimal conditions for achieving molecular Bose-Einstein condensation.