375 research outputs found
Exotic magnetic orders for high spin ultracold fermions
We study Hubbard models for ultracold bosonic or fermionic atoms loaded into
an optical lattice. The atoms carry a high spin , and interact on site
via strong repulsive Van der Waals forces. Making convenient rearrangements of
the interaction terms, and exploiting their symmetry properties, we derive low
energy effective models with nearest-neighbor interactions, and their
properties. We apply our method to , and 5/2 fermions on two-dimensional
square lattice at quarter, and 1/6 fillings, respectively, and investigate
mean-field equations for repulsive couplings. We find for fermions that
the plaquette state appearing in the highly symmetric SU(4) case does not
require fine tuning, and is stable in an extended region of the phase diagram.
This phase competes with an SU(2) flux state, that is always suppressed for
repulsive interactions in absence of external magnetic field. The SU(2) flux
state has, however, lower energy than the plaquette phase, and stabilizes in
the presence of weak applied magnetic field. For fermions a similar
SU(2) plaquette phase is found to be the ground state without external magnetic
field.Comment: final version, 6 pages, 4 figures, epl forma
Observing the Formation of Long-range Order during Bose-Einstein Condensation
We have experimentally investigated the formation of off-diagonal long-range
order in a gas of ultracold atoms. A magnetically trapped atomic cloud prepared
in a highly nonequilibrium state thermalizes and thereby crosses the
Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition. The evolution of phase coherence
between different regions of the sample is constantly monitored and information
on the spatial first-order correlation function is obtained. We observe the
growth of the spatial coherence and the formation of long-range order in real
time and compare it to the growth of the atomic density. Moreover, we study the
evolution of the momentum distribution during the nonequilibrium formation of
the condensate.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Exploring phase coherence in a 2D lattice of Bose-Einstein condensates
Bose-Einstein condensates of rubidium atoms are stored in a two-dimensional
periodic dipole force potential, formed by a pair of standing wave laser
fields. The resulting potential consists of a lattice of tightly confining
tubes, each filled with a 1D quantum gas. Tunnel-coupling between neighboring
tubes is controlled by the intensity of the laser fields. By observing the
interference pattern of atoms released from more than 3000 individual lattice
tubes the phase coherence of the coupled quantum gases is studied. The lifetime
of the condensate in the lattice and the dependence of the interference pattern
on the lattice configuration are investigated.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Hybrid apparatus for Bose-Einstein condensation and cavity quantum electrodynamics: Single atom detection in quantum degenerate gases
We present and characterize an experimental system in which we achieve the
integration of an ultrahigh finesse optical cavity with a Bose-Einstein
condensate (BEC). The conceptually novel design of the apparatus for the
production of BECs features nested vacuum chambers and an in-vacuo magnetic
transport configuration. It grants large scale spatial access to the BEC for
samples and probes via a modular and exchangeable "science platform". We are
able to produce \87Rb condensates of five million atoms and to output couple
continuous atom lasers. The cavity is mounted on the science platform on top of
a vibration isolation system. The optical cavity works in the strong coupling
regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics and serves as a quantum optical
detector for single atoms. This system enables us to study atom optics on a
single particle level and to further develop the field of quantum atom optics.
We describe the technological modules and the operation of the combined BEC
cavity apparatus. Its performance is characterized by single atom detection
measurements for thermal and quantum degenerate atomic beams. The atom laser
provides a fast and controllable supply of atoms coupling with the cavity mode
and allows for an efficient study of atom field interactions in the strong
coupling regime. Moreover, the high detection efficiency for quantum degenerate
atoms distinguishes the cavity as a sensitive and weakly invasive probe for
cold atomic clouds
Measuring the temporal coherence of an atom laser beam
We report on the measurement of the temporal coherence of an atom laser beam
extracted from a Rb Bose-Einstein condensate. Reflecting the beam from a
potential barrier creates a standing matter wave structure. From the contrast
of this interference pattern, observed by magnetic resonance imaging, we have
deduced an energy width of the atom laser beam which is Fourier limited by the
duration of output coupling. This gives an upper limit for temporal phase
fluctuations in the Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Time interval distributions of atoms in atomic beams
We report on the experimental investigation of two-particle correlations
between neutral atoms in a Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment. Both an atom
laser beam and a pseudo-thermal atomic beam are extracted from a Bose-Einstein
condensate and the atom flux is measured with a single atom counter. We
determine the conditional and the unconditional detection probabilities for the
atoms in the beam and find good agreement with the theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Creation of effective magnetic fields in optical lattices: The Hofstadter butterfly for cold neutral atoms
We investigate the dynamics of neutral atoms in a 2D optical lattice which
traps two distinct internal states of the atoms in different columns. Two Raman
lasers are used to coherently transfer atoms from one internal state to the
other, thereby causing hopping between the different columns. By adjusting the
laser parameters appropriately we can induce a non vanishing phase of particles
moving along a closed path on the lattice. This phase is proportional to the
enclosed area and we thus simulate a magnetic flux through the lattice. This
setup is described by a Hamiltonian identical to the one for electrons on a
lattice subject to a magnetic field and thus allows us to study this equivalent
situation under very well defined controllable conditions. We consider the
limiting case of huge magnetic fields -- which is not experimentally accessible
for electrons in metals -- where a fractal band structure, the Hofstadter
butterfly, characterizes the system.Comment: 6 pages, RevTe
Quantitative Determination of Temperature in the Approach to Magnetic Order of Ultracold Fermions in an Optical Lattice
We perform a quantitative simulation of the repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model using an ultracold gas trapped in an optical lattice. The entropy of the system is determined by comparing accurate measurements of the equilibrium double occupancy with theoretical calculations over a wide range of parameters. We demonstrate the applicability of both high-temperature series and dynamical mean-field theory to obtain quantitative agreement with the experimental data. The reliability of the entropy determination is confirmed by a comprehensive analysis of all systematic errors. In the center of the Mott insulating cloud we obtain an entropy per atom as low as 0.77k(B) which is about twice as large as the entropy at the Neel transition. The corresponding temperature depends on the atom number and for small fillings reaches values on the order of the tunneling energy
An Atom Laser with a cw Output Coupler
We demonstrate a continuous output coupler for magnetically trapped atoms.
Over a period of up to 100 ms a collimated and monoenergetic beam of atoms is
continuously extracted from a Bose- Einstein condensate. The intensity and
kinetic energy of the output beam of this atom laser are controlled by a weak
rf-field that induces spin flips between trapped and untrapped states.
Furthermore, the output coupler is used to perform a spectroscopic measurement
of the condensate, which reveals the spatial distribution of the magnetically
trapped condensate and allows manipulation of the condensate on a micrometer
scale.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A sharp look at the gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J0806+2006 with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics
We present the first VLT near-IR observations of a gravitationally lensed
quasar, using adaptive optics and laser guide star. These observations can be
considered as a test bench for future systematic observations of lensed quasars
with adaptive optics, even when bright natural guide stars are not available in
the nearby field. With only 14 minutes of observing time, we derived very
accurate astrometry of the quasar images and of the lensing galaxy, with 0.05
\arcsec spatial resolution, comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In
combination with deep VLT optical spectra of the quasar images, we use our
adaptive optics images to constrain simple models for the mass distribution of
the lensing galaxy. The latter is almost circular and does not need any strong
external shear to fit the data. The time delay predicted for SDSS0806+2006,
assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid model and the concordance cosmology,
is Delta t \simeq 50 days. Our optical spectra indicate a flux ratio between
the quasar images of A/B=1.3 in the continuum and A/B=2.2 in both the MgII and
in the CIII] broad emission lines. This suggests that microlensing affects the
continuum emission. However, the constant ratio between the two emission lines
indicates that the broad emission line region is not microlensed. Finally, we
see no evidence of reddening by dust in the lensing galaxy.Comment: 4 pages, Published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Discussion slightly
expanded with respect to v1. Typos correcte
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