1 research outputs found
Thermometry with spin-dependent lattices
We propose a method for measuring the temperature of strongly correlated
phases of ultracold atom gases confined in spin-dependent optical lattices. In
this technique, a small number of "impurity" atoms--trapped in a state that
does not experience the lattice potential--are in thermal contact with atoms
bound to the lattice. The impurity serves as a thermometer for the system
because its temperature can be straightforwardly measured using time-of-flight
expansion velocity. This technique may be useful for resolving many open
questions regarding thermalization in these isolated systems. We discuss the
theory behind this method and demonstrate proof-of-principle experiments,
including the first realization of a 3D spin-dependent lattice in the strongly
correlated regime.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures v2: Several references added; Section on heating
rates updated to include dipole fluctuation terms; Section added on the
limitations of the proposed method. To appear in New Journal of Physic