Entanglement interferometry for precision measurement of atomic scattering properties

We report on a two-particle matter wave interferometer realized with pairs of trapped 87Rb atoms. Each pair of atoms is confined at a single site of an optical lattice potential. The interferometer is realized by first creating a coherent spin-mixture of the two atoms and then tuning the inter-state scattering length via a Feshbach resonance. The selective change of the inter-state scattering length leads to an entanglement dynamics of the two-particle state that can be detected in a Ramsey interference experiment. This entanglement dynamics is employed for a precision measurement of atomic interaction parameters. Furthermore, the interferometer allows to separate lattice sites with one or two atoms in a non-destructive way.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Quantum Spin Dynamics of Mode-Squeezed Luttinger Liquids in Two-Component Atomic Gases

We report on the observation of the phase dynamics of interacting one-dimensional ultracold bosonic gases with two internal degrees of freedom. By controlling the non-linear atomic interactions close to a Feshbach resonance we are able to induce a phase diffusive many-body spin dynamics. We monitor this dynamical evolution by Ramsey interferometry, supplemented by a novel, many-body echo technique. We find that the time evolution of the system is well described by a Luttinger liquid initially prepared in a multimode squeezed state. Our approach allows us to probe the non-equilibrium evolution of one-dimensional many-body quantum systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures Updated version, minor change

Spin squeezing of high-spin, spatially extended quantum fields

Investigations of spin squeezing in ensembles of quantum particles have been limited primarily to a subspace of spin fluctuations and a single spatial mode in high-spin and spatially extended ensembles. Here, we show that a wider range of spin-squeezing is attainable in ensembles of high-spin atoms, characterized by sub-quantum-limited fluctuations in several independent planes of spin-fluctuation observables. Further, considering the quantum dynamics of an $f=1$ ferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensate, we demonstrate theoretically that a high degree of spin squeezing is attained in multiple spatial modes of a spatially extended quantum field, and that such squeezing can be extracted from spatially resolved measurements of magnetization and nematicity, i.e.\ the vector and quadrupole magnetic moments, of the quantum gas. Taking into account several experimental limitations, we predict that the variance of the atomic magnetization and nematicity may be reduced as far as 20 dB below the standard quantum limits.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Coherent collisional spin dynamics in optical lattices

We report on the observation of coherent, purely collisionally driven spin dynamics of neutral atoms in an optical lattice. For high lattice depths, atom pairs confined to the same lattice site show weakly damped Rabi-type oscillations between two-particle Zeeman states of equal magnetization, induced by spin changing collisions. This paves the way towards the efficient creation of robust entangled atom pairs in an optical lattice. Moreover, measurement of the oscillation frequency allows for precise determination of the spin-changing collisional coupling strengths, which are directly related to fundamental scattering lengths describing interatomic collisions at ultracold temperatures.Comment: revised version; 4 pages, 5 figure

Bayesian feedback control of a two-atom spin-state in an atom-cavity system

We experimentally demonstrate real-time feedback control of the joint spin-state of two neutral Caesium atoms inside a high finesse optical cavity. The quantum states are discriminated by their different cavity transmission levels. A Bayesian update formalism is used to estimate state occupation probabilities as well as transition rates. We stabilize the balanced two-atom mixed state, which is deterministically inaccessible, via feedback control and find very good agreement with Monte-Carlo simulations. On average, the feedback loops achieves near optimal conditions by steering the system to the target state marginally exceeding the time to retrieve information about its state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Precision measurement of spin-dependent interaction strengths for spin-1 and spin-2 87Rb atoms

We report on precision measurements of spin-dependent interaction-strengths in the 87Rb spin-1 and spin-2 hyperfine ground states. Our method is based on the recent observation of coherence in the collisionally driven spin-dynamics of ultracold atom pairs trapped in optical lattices. Analysis of the Rabi-type oscillations between two spin states of an atom pair allows a direct determination of the coupling parameters in the interaction hamiltonian. We deduce differences in scattering lengths from our data that can directly be compared to theoretical predictions in order to test interatomic potentials. Our measurements agree with the predictions within 20%. The knowledge of these coupling parameters allows one to determine the nature of the magnetic ground state. Our data imply a ferromagnetic ground state for 87Rb in the f=1 manifold, in agreement with earlier experiments performed without the optical lattice. For 87Rb in the f=2 manifold the data points towards an antiferromagnetic ground state, however our error bars do not exclude a possible cyclic phase.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Quantum Walk in Position Space with Single Optically Trapped Atoms

The quantum walk is the quantum analogue of the well-known random walk, which forms the basis for models and applications in many realms of science. Its properties are markedly different from the classical counterpart and might lead to extensive applications in quantum information science. In our experiment, we implemented a quantum walk on the line with single neutral atoms by deterministically delocalizing them over the sites of a one-dimensional spin-dependent optical lattice. With the use of site-resolved fluorescence imaging, the final wave function is characterized by local quantum state tomography, and its spatial coherence is demonstrated. Our system allows the observation of the quantum-to-classical transition and paves the way for applications, such as quantum cellular automata.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Correlated hopping of bosonic atoms induced by optical lattices

In this work we analyze a particular setup with ultracold atoms trapped in state-dependent lattices. We show that any asymmetry in the contact interaction translates into one of two classes of correlated hopping. After deriving the effective lattice Hamiltonian for the atoms, we obtain analytically and numerically the different phases and quantum phase transitions. We find for weak correlated hopping both Mott insulators and charge density waves, while for stronger correlated hopping the system transitions into a pair superfluid. We demonstrate that this phase exists for a wide range of interaction asymmetries and has interesting correlation properties that differentiate it from an ordinary atomic Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 24 pages with 9 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic

Nearest-Neighbor Detection of Atoms in a 1D Optical Lattice by Fluorescence Imaging

We overcome the diffraction limit in fluorescence imaging of neutral atoms in a sparsely filled one-dimensional optical lattice. At a periodicity of 433 nm, we reliably infer the separation of two atoms down to nearest neighbors. We observe light induced losses of atoms occupying the same lattice site, while for atoms in adjacent lattice sites, no losses due to light induced interactions occur. Our method points towards characterization of correlated quantum states in optical lattice systems with filling factors of up to one atom per lattice site.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Simple method for sub-diffraction resolution imaging of cellular structures on standard confocal microscopes by three-photon absorption of quantum dots

This study describes a simple technique that improves a recently developed 3D sub-diffraction imaging method based on three-photon absorption of commercially available quantum dots. The method combines imaging of biological samples via tri-exciton generation in quantum dots with deconvolution and spectral multiplexing, resulting in a novel approach for multi-color imaging of even thick biological samples at a 1.4 to 1.9-fold better spatial resolution. This approach is realized on a conventional confocal microscope equipped with standard continuous-wave lasers. We demonstrate the potential of multi-color tri-exciton imaging of quantum dots combined with deconvolution on viral vesicles in lentivirally transduced cells as well as intermediate filaments in three-dimensional clusters of mouse-derived neural stem cells (neurospheres) and dense microtubuli arrays in myotubes formed by stacks of differentiated C2C12 myoblasts