Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ultracold gases'

This work will introduce the Efimov effect and the resonant and scaling limits and derive the formula for the binding energies of the Efimov states. We use the hyperspherical coordinates for the stationary wave function of three particles and solve the low-energy Faddeev equation with the hyperspherical expansion and use the expansion for solving the channel eigenvalues. The channel eigenvalues are defined by a constant, which is the solution of the resulting transcendental equation. We also solve the scaling-violation parameter and finally compile all the results to derive the Efimov states. In the unitary limit we find infinitely many Efimov states, with an accumulation point at zero energy and an asymptotic discrete scaling symmetry with the discrete scaling factor of about 22.7. In this work, we will also delve into effective field theories, which can be used to numerically analyze and solve Efimov states in different cases. We will first go through the two-body problem which is used as a simpler example on how to solve the three-body problem and to solve the two-body coupling constant, which will also appear in the three-body problem. By using the diatom field trick introduced by Bedaque, Hammer and van Kolck, we derive the Skorniakov-Ter-Martirosian equation for the three-body problem. Finally this work will take a quick look at the first experimental evidences for Efimov states that were found since 2006. In the experiment, proper Efimov resonances in measurements of three-body recombination have been observed.

Esta tesis es un trabajo teórico, en el que estudiamos la física de los átomos dipolares bosónicos ultrafríos en retículos ópticos. Éstos gases consisten de átomos o moléculas bosónicas, enfriados bajo la temperatura de degeneración cuántica, típicamente del orden de nK. En éstas condiciones, en una trampa armónica tridimensional (3D), los bosones que interaccionan débilmente condensan y forman un Condensado de Bose Einstein (BEC). Cuando se carga un BEC en un retículo óptico producido por ondas estacionarias de luz láser, se producen nuevos fenómenos físicos. Estos sistemas entonces realizan modelos de tipo Hubbard y pueden ser llevados a regimenes fuertemente correlacionados.

En 1989, M. Fisher et. al. predecían que el modelo de Bose-Hubbard homogéneo (BH) presenta la transición de fase cuántica Superfluid-Mott insulator (SF-MI). En 2002, la transición entre éstas dos fases fue observada experimentalmente por primera vez en el grupo de T. Esslinger e I. Bloch. La realización experimental de un BEC dipolar de cromo en el grupo de T. Pfau, y los progresos recientes en las técnicas de enfriamiento y atrapamiento de moléculas dipolares en los grupos de D. Jin e J. Ye, han abierto el camino hacia los gases cuánticos ultra-fríos dominados por la interacción dipolar. La evolución natural, y el reto de hoy en día por parte experimental, es de cargar BEC dipolares en retículos ópticos y estudiar los gases dipolares fuertemente correlacionados.

Antes de éste trabajo de doctorado, estudios sobre modelos de BH con interacciones extendidas a los primeros vecinos mostraron la evidencia de nuevas fases cuánticas, como el supersólido (SS) y la fase checkerboard (CB). Debido al carácter de largo alcance de la interacción dipolo-dipolo, que decae con la potencia cúbica inversa de la distancia, es necesario incluir más de un primer vecino para obtener una descripción fiel y cuantitativa de los sistemas dipolares. De hecho, al incluir más vecinos se permiten y se estabilizan aún más nuevas fases.

En esta tesis estudiamos modelos de BH con interacciones dipolares, investigando más allá del estado fundamental. Estudiamos un retículo bidimensional (2D) donde los dipolos están polarizados en dirección perpendicular al plano 2D, dando lugar a una interacción dipolar repulsiva e isotrópica. Utilizamos aproximaciones de campo-medio y un ansatz Gutzwiller, que son suficientemente correctos y adecuados para describir este sistema. Encontramos que los gases dipolares en 2D presentan una multitud de estados metaestables de tipo MI, que compiten con el estado fundamental, de modo parecido a sistemas desordenados. Estudiamos en detalle el destino de estos estados metaestables: como pueden ser preparados de manera controlada, como pueden ser detectados, cual es su tiempo de vida debido al tunnelling, y cual es su rol en los procesos de enfriamiento. Además, encontramos que el estado fundamental está caracterizado por estados MI de tipo checkerboard con coeficiente de ocupación n fraccionario (numero medio de partículas por sitio) que depende del cut-off utilizado en el radio de alcance de la interacción. Confirmamos esta predicción estudiando el mismo sistema con métodos Quantum Monte Carlo (worm algorithm). En este caso no utilizamos ningún cut-off en el radio de alcance de la interacción, y encontramos pruebas de una "Devil's staircase" en el estado fundamental, i.e. donde las fases MI aparecen en todos los n racionales del retículo subyacente. Encontramos además, regiones de los parámetros donde el estado fundamental es supersólido, obtenido drogando los sólidos con partículas o con agujeros.

En este trabajo, investigamos también como cambia la estructura precedente en 3D. Nos focalizamos en el retículo 3D más sencillo compuesto de dos planos 2D, en el cual los dipolos están polarizados perpendicularmente a los planos; la interacción dipolar es entonces repulsiva por partículas del mismo plano, mientras es atractiva por partículas en el mismo sitio de dos planos diferentes. En cambio suprimimos el tunnelling entre los planos, lo cual hace el sistema equivalente a una mezcla bosónica en un retículo 2D. Nuestros cálculos muestran que las partículas se juntan en parejas, y demostramos la existencia de la nueva fase cuántica Pair Super Solid (PSS).

Actualmente estamos estudiando un retículo 2D donde los dipolos están libres de apuntar en ambas direcciones perpendicularmente al plano, lo cual resulta en una interacción a primeros vecinos repulsiva (atractiva) por dipolos alineados (anti-alineados). Encontramos regiones de parámetros donde el estado fundamental es ferromagnético u anti-ferromagnético, y encontramos pruebas de la existencia de la fase cuántica Counterflow Super Solid (CSS).
Las nuestras predicciones tienen directas consecuencias experimentales, y esperamos que vengan pronto controladas en experimentos con gases dipolares atómicos y moleculares ultra-fríos.
This thesis is a theoretical work, in which we study the physics of ultra-cold dipolar bosonic gases in optical lattices. Such gases consist of bosonic atoms or molecules, cooled below the quantum degeneracy temperature, typically in the nK range. In such conditions, in a three-dimensional (3D) harmonic trap, weakly interacting bosons condense and form a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC). When a BEC is loaded into an optical lattice produced by standing waves of laser light, new kinds of physical phenomena occur.

These systems realize then Hubbard-type models and can be brought to a strongly correlated regime. In 1989, M. Fisher et. al. predicted that the homogeneous Bose-Hubbard model (BH) exhibits the Superfluid-Mott insulator (SF-MI) quantum phase transition. In 2002 the transition between these two phases were observed experimentally for the first time in the group of T. Esslinger and I. Bloch. The experimental realisation of a dipolar BEC of Chromium by the group of T. Pfau, and the recent progresses in trapping and cooling of dipolar molecules by the groups of D. Jin and J. Ye, have opened the path towards ultra-cold quantum gases with dominant dipole interactions. A natural evolution and present challenge, on the experimental side is then to load dipolar BECs into optical lattices and study strongly correlated ultracold dipolar lattice gases.

Before this PhD work, studies of BH models with interactions extended to nearest neighbours had pointed out that novel quantum phases, like supersolid (SS) and checkerboard phases (CB) are expected. Due to the long-range character of the dipole-dipole interaction, which decays as the inverse cubic power of the distance, it is necessary to include more than one nearest neighbour to have a faithful quantitative description of dipolar systems. In fact, longer-range interactions tend to allow for and stabilize more novel phases.

In this thesis we study BH models with dipolar interactions, going beyond the ground state search. We consider a two-dimensional (2D) lattice where the dipoles are polarized perpendicularly to the 2D plane, resulting in an isotropic repulsive interaction. We use the mean-field approximations and a Gutzwiller ansatz which are quite accurate and suitable to describe this system. We find that dipolar bosonic gas in 2D exhibits a multitude of insulating metastable states, often competing with the ground state, similarly as in a disordered system. We study in detail the fate of these metastable states: how can they be prepared on demand, how they can be detected, what is their lifetime due to tunnelling, and what is their role in various cooling schemes. Moreover, we find that the ground state is characterized by insulating checkerboard-like states with fractional filling factors v(average number of particles per site) that depend on the cut-off used for the interaction range. We confirm this prediction by studying the same system with Quantum Monte Carlo methods (the worm algorithm). In this case no cut-off is used, and we find evidence for a Devil's staircase in the ground state, i.e. where insulating phases appear at all rational of the underlying lattice. We also find regions of parameters where the ground state is a supersolid, obtained by doping the solids either with particles or vacancies.

In this work, we also investigate how the previous scenario changes in 3D. We focus on the simplest 3D lattice composed of two 2D layers in which the dipoles are polarized perpendicularly to the planes; the dipolar interaction is then repulsive for particles laying on the same plane, while it is attractive for particles at the same lattice site on different layers. Instead we consider inter-layer tunnelling to be suppressed, which makes the system analogous to a bosonic mixture in a 2D lattice. Our calculations show that particles pair into composites, and demonstrate the existence of the novel Pair Super Solid (PSS) quantum phase.
Currently we are studying a 2D lattice where the dipoles are free to point in both directions perpendicularly to the plane, which results in a nearest neighbour repulsive (attractive) interaction for aligned (antialigned) dipoles. We find regions of parameters where the ground state is ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic, and find evidences for the existence of a Counterflow Super Solid (CSS) quantum phase.
Our predictions have direct experimental consequences, and we hope that they will be soon checked in experiments with ultracold dipolar atomic and molecular gases.

Topological phenomena arise in a wide range of systems, with fascinating physical consequences. There is great interest in finding new ways to measure such consequences in ultracold atomic gas experiments. These experiments have significant advantages over the solid-state as ultracold atoms are controllable, tuneable and clean. They can also be used to investigate properties which are inaccessible in other quantum systems. We explore some of the novel features of topological energy bands and topological solitons in ultracold gases. Topological energy bands have important geometrical properties described by the Berry curvature. Bands with nonzero Berry curvature arise in key areas of current research, such as optical lattices with more than one band; strong artificial magnetic fields and 2D spin-orbit coupling. Topological solitons are also relevant to cutting-edge experiments as they can be created and studied with high temporal and spatial resolution. In this thesis, we investigate the consequences of Berry curvature for the semiclassical dynamics of a wavepacket and the collective modes of an ultracold gas. We also study theoretically the dynamics of skyrmion-antiskyrmion pairs in a Bose Einstein condensate. Firstly, we propose a general method by which experiments can map the Berry curvature across the Brillouin zone, and thereby determine the topological properties of the energy bands of optical lattices. The Berry curvature modifies the semiclassical dynamics and hence the trajectory of a wavepacket undergoing Bloch oscillations. Our general protocol allows a clean measurement from the semiclassical dynamics of the Berry curvature over the Brillouin zone. We discuss how this protocol may be implemented and explore the semiclassical dynamics for three relevant systems. We discuss general experimental considerations for observing Berry curvature effects before reviewing some of the progress in the field since the publication of our work. Secondly, we show that the Berry curvature changes the hydrodynamic equations of motion for a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate, and causes significant modifications to the collective mode frequencies. We illustrate our results for the case of two-dimensional Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a Zeeman field, where we also apply both a sum rule and an operator approach to the dipole mode. Extending the operator method, we derive the effects of Berry curvature on the dipole mode in very general settings. We show that the sizes of these effects can be large and readily detected in experiment. Collective modes therefore provide a sensitive way to measure geometrical properties of topological energy bands. Lastly, we study theoretically the dynamics of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates in two dimensions, which admit topological excitations related to the skyrmions of nuclear physics. We explore a branch of uniformly propagating solitary waves, which, at high momentum, can be viewed as skyrmion-antiskyrmion pairs. We study these solitary waves for a range of interaction regimes and show that, for experimentally relevant cases, there is a transition to spatially extended spin-wave states at low momentum. We explain how this can be understood by analogy to the two-dimensional ferromagnet and discuss how such solitary waves can be generated and studied in experiment.

In this thesis we investigate strongly-correlated states of ultracold bosonic atoms in rotating ring lattices and arrays of double-well potentials. In the first part of the thesis, we study the tunneling dynamics of ultracold bosons in double-well potentials. In the non-interacting limit single-particle transitions dominate, while in the interaction-dominated regime correlated tunneling of all particles prevails. At intermediate times of the many-particle flopping process correlated states occur, but the timescales of these processes increase dramatically with the number of particles. Using an array of double-well potentials, a large number of such few-particle superposition states can be produced in parallel. In the second part of the thesis, we study the effects of rotation on ultracold bosons confined to one-dimensional ring lattices. We find that at commensurate filling there exists a critical rotation frequency, at which the ground state of the weakly-interacting gas is fragmented into a macroscopic superposition of different quasi-momentum states. We demonstrate that the generation of such superposition states using slightly non-uniform ring lattices has several practical advantages. Moreover, we show that different quasi-momentum states can be distinguished in time-of-flight absorption imaging and propose to probe correlations via the many-body oscillations induced by a sudden change in the rotation frequency. Finally, we compare these macroscopic superposition states to those occurring in superconducting quantum interference devices. In the third part of the thesis, we demonstrate the creation of entangled states with ultracold bosonic atoms by dynamical manipulation of the shape of the lattice potential. To this end, we consider an optical superlattice that allows both the splitting of each site into a double-well potential and the variation of the height of the potential barrier between the sites. We show how to use this array of double-well potentials to perform entangling operations between neighboring qubits encoded on the Zeeman levels of the atoms. As one possible application, we present a method of realizing a resource state for measurement-based quantum computation via Bell-pair measurements. In the final part of the thesis, we study ultracold bosons on a two-dimensional square lattice in the presence of an effective magnetic field and point out a couple of features this system has in common with ultracold bosons in one-dimensional rotating ring lattices.

Systems of ultracold atoms in optical potentials have taken a place at the forefront of research into many-body atomic systems because of the clean experimental environment they exist in and the tunability of the system parameters. In this thesis we study how light scattered from these ultracold atomic gases reveals information about the state of the atomic gas and also leads to changes in that state. We begin by investigating the angular dependence of light scattered from atoms in optical lattices at finite temperature. We demonstrate how correlations in the superfluid and Mott insulator states affect the scattering pattern, and we show that temperature affects the number of photons scattered. This effect could be used to measure the temperature of the gas, however, we show that when the lattice band structure is taken into account the efficiency of this temperature measurement is reduced. We then investigate light scattering from small optical lattices where the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian can be solved exactly. For small lattices, scattering a photon from the atomic system significantly perturbs the atomic system. We develop a model of the evolution of the many-body state that results from the consecutive scattering and detection of photons. This model shows that light scattering pushes the system towards eigenstates of the light scattering measurement process, in some cases leading to a superposition of atomic states. In the second half of this thesis we study light scattering that depends on the internal hyperfine spin state of the atoms, in which case the scattered light can form images of the spatial atomic spin distribution. We demonstrate how scattering spatially correlated light from the atoms can result in spin state images with enhanced spatial resolution. We also show how using spatially correlated light can lead to direct measurement of the spatial correlations of the atomic spin distribution. We then apply this theory of spin-dependent light scattering to the detection of different spin states of ultracold gases in synthetic magnetic fields. We show that it is possible to distinguish between ground states in the quantum Hall regime using light scattering. Moreover, we show how noise correlation analysis of the spin state images can be used to identify the correlations between atoms and how a variant on phase-contrast imaging can reveal the relationship between the atomic spins.

This thesis explores Feynman’s idea of quantum simulations by using ultracold quantum gases. In the first part of the thesis we develop a general method applicable to atoms or molecules or even nanoparticles, to decelerate a hot fast gas beam to zero velocity by using an optical cavity. This deceleration method is based on a novel phase stability mechanism in the bad cavity regime, which is very different from the traditional cavity cooling studies where a good cavity is needed. We propose several schemes to decelerate the gas beam based on this new phase stability mechanism. Practical issues for realizing the proposals are also discussed in detail which show that the deceleration schemes are feasible using present experimental techniques. In the second part of this thesis, we show how the concept of quantum simulations is applied to multiple-layered Dirac cones and related phenomena by using multi-component ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices where the spin-dependent hopping and on-site spin flipping are both controlled by Raman lasers. By tuning the spin-dependent hopping according to the representations of su(2) algebra, we show that we can simulate the Dirac-Weyl fermions with any arbitrary spin beyond the spin ½ cases found in graphene and topological insulators. These high spin Dirac-Weyl fermions show rich anomalous quantum Hall effects and a remarkable Klein multi-refringent tunnelling. Moreover, when getting rid of the limitations of su(2) algebra and allowing for on-site spin flipping, we further investigate Modified Dispersion Relations (MDRs) and Neutrino Oscillations (NOs) as in Standard Model Extensions (SMEs) by virtue of an analogue between the three-family fermions in particle physics and a three-layered Dirac cones scheme. This thesis shows the important role ultracold quantum gases play in quantum simulations to address some of the most challenging topics in modern physics.

Dans ce mémoire, j'étudie la possibilité d'accélérer les transformations adiabatiques de systèmes quantiques. Les expériences ont été réalisées avec un gaz ultra froid de Rubidium-87 dans deux régimes différents : d'une part avec un nuage thermique unidimensionnel dans lequel les interactions sont négligeables, et d'autre part avec un condensat de Bose-Einstein tridimensionnel pour lequel les interactions sont prépondérantes. Le premier chapitre de la thèse rappelle certains aspects théoriques ainsi que les principales propriétés des gaz ultra froids. Le chapitre deux décrit l'appareil expérimental de condensation de Bose-Einstein, celui-ci étant principalement constitué de deux pièges magnéto-optiques et d'un piège magnétique. Dans le troisième chapitre cet appareil est utilisé afin de prouver que les transformations adiabatiques, dans notre cas, une décompression accompagnée d'un déplacement du gaz, peuvent être considérablement accélérées si les paramètre du système qui varient avec le temps sont modifiés de manière adéquat. Le traitement théorique qui est détaillé n'est pas limité aux gaz froids mais est également applicable à tout système décrit par une équation de Schrödinger, aussi bien linéaire que non linéaire, dans laquelle le potentiel est harmonique. Le dernier chapitre est théorique et quelque peu éloigné du reste du manuscrit. J'y étudie les effets des corrélations sur les systèmes désordonnés à une dimension dans lesquels la localisation d'Anderson est attendue. Je montre qu'un mélange dégénéré de Rubidium-87 et de Potassium-41 est adapté à l'observation de délocalisation induite par les corrélations du potentiel aléatoire
In this thesis I explore the possibility of accelerating adiabatic processes for quantum systems. Experiments are performed with a trapped ultracold gas of Rubidium-87 atoms in two distinct regimes: with a one-dimensional thermal gas that can be considered non-interacting, and with a three-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate for which interactions are dominant. In the first chapter I recall some aspects of the theoretical description and important properties of such gases. The second chapter details the construction of a Bose-Einstein condensation apparatus, mainly composed of two magneto-optical traps and a magnetic trap. In the third chapter this set-up is used to demonstrate that adiabatic processes, in our case, the slow decompression and displacement of the gas, can be dramatically accelerated by using a proper design of the time-dependent parameters of the system. The theoretical treatment is detailed and is not restricted to trapped gases. It may be applied to other physical systems described by either a linear or nonlinear Schrödinger equation containing a time-dependent harmonic potential. The final chapter is theoretical and not directly related to the others. In it I investigate the effect of disorder correlations on one-dimensional Anderson localization. I show that a degenerate mixture of Rubidium-87 and Potassium-41 atoms is well suited to study the localization-delocalization transition predicted by existing models of correlated disorder

We construct a vertical imaging system designed to image along the quantization axis of the experiment. We demonstrate that it has a resolution on the order of 1-2μm which is on par with previous characterizations of the constituent components. We find that the inclusion of the vertical imaging system has a detrimental effect on the atom loading performance of the MOT. We show that this decrease is by approximately a factor of 2 down to 6.5×10⁶ atoms per second and 8.1×10⁷ atoms respectively. We subsequently detail the design of a novel lattice apparatus capable of tuning the lattice spacing by many orders of magnitude on the timescale of a typical experimental cycle. A proof-of-principle for this so-called dilating lattice is realized and the mechanism for variable lattice spacing is shown to work. Lastly, we cover our efforts towards measuring the effect of Feshbach resonances on collisional decoherence rates in ⁶Li. To this end, we show that the Rabi frequency we can create given our current tools is approximately 100Hz. A unknown strong mechanism for decoherence obstructs our experimental signature and a brief discussion of our attempts to discover its origin is presented.
Science, Faculty of
Physics and Astronomy, Department of
Graduate

In this thesis we present a detailed investigation of the role played by quantum and thermal fluctuations in ultracold Bose gases. We begin with a review of several important concepts and analytical tools within a functional integration formalism. We first focus on the so-called zero-range approximation for the interaction potential, by recovering the Bogoliubov results and the Landau two-fluid model from a field-theory perspective. In deriving the beyond-mean-field equation of state, we are going to show that a crucial point concerns the proper regularization of the divergent zero-point energy. Among the alternative approaches to investigate finite-temperatures Bose gases, we apply the kinetic theory to explain some recent results on the sound propagation in two-dimensional Bose gases. We then move to consider the eventual corrections to the thermodynamics of Bose gases due to the finite-range character of the interaction potential. The coupling constants of the finite-range model are related to measurable scattering parameters through an effective-field-theory approach. The role of finite-range corrections is considered not only in three spatial dimensions but also in systems with lower dimensionalities. Our analytical predictions are in good agreement with available Monte Carlo simulations and consistent with other theoretical frames, as the Lieb-Lininger theory for one-dimensional systems. In the third chapter, the relevance of fluctuations is investigated from an alternative point of view. Indeed, for a single-component Bose gas we have actually considered their effect as deviations of thermodynamic quantities from the mean-field and zero-range picture. In the case of collapsing Bose mixtures, we are going to show that zero-temperature fluctuations play a crucial stabilizing role against the collapse instability. Because of this peculiar mechanism, ultracold mixtures can display finite-density configurations also in free space. Inspired by recent experiments, we characterize this novel self-bound state by comparison with bright solitons, following a variational scheme. We also consider the case of binary mixtures where a coherent internal coupling is turned on. In the last chapter, we move to deal with dipolar condensates. In particular, we are interested in beyond-mean-field effects leading to the formation of inhomogeneous ground states. In order to provide a reliable answer to the open issue of superfluid properties of these structures, we present our recent numerical investigation on the phase diagram of dipolar bosons.
In this thesis we present a detailed investigation of the role played by quantum and thermal fluctuations in ultracold Bose gases. We begin with a review of several important concepts and analytical tools within a functional integration formalism. We first focus on the so-called zero-range approximation for the interaction potential, by recovering the Bogoliubov results and the Landau two-fluid model from a field-theory perspective. In deriving the beyond-mean-field equation of state, we are going to show that a crucial point concerns the proper regularization of the divergent zero-point energy. Among the alternative approaches to investigate finite-temperatures Bose gases, we apply the kinetic theory to explain some recent results on the sound propagation in two-dimensional Bose gases. We then move to consider the eventual corrections to the thermodynamics of Bose gases due to the finite-range character of the interaction potential. The coupling constants of the finite-range model are related to measurable scattering parameters through an effective-field-theory approach. The role of finite-range corrections is considered not only in three spatial dimensions but also in systems with lower dimensionalities. Our analytical predictions are in good agreement with available Monte Carlo simulations and consistent with other theoretical frames, as the Lieb-Lininger theory for one-dimensional systems. In the third chapter, the relevance of fluctuations is investigated from an alternative point of view. Indeed, for a single-component Bose gas we have actually considered their effect as deviations of thermodynamic quantities from the mean-field and zero-range picture. In the case of collapsing Bose mixtures, we are going to show that zero-temperature fluctuations play a crucial stabilizing role against the collapse instability. Because of this peculiar mechanism, ultracold mixtures can display finite-density configurations also in free space. Inspired by recent experiments, we characterize this novel self-bound state by comparison with bright solitons, following a variational scheme. We also consider the case of binary mixtures where a coherent internal coupling is turned on. In the last chapter, we move to deal with dipolar condensates. In particular, we are interested in beyond-mean-field effects leading to the formation of inhomogeneous ground states. In order to provide a reliable answer to the open issue of superfluid properties of these structures, we present our recent numerical investigation on the phase diagram of dipolar bosons.

The main goal of this thesis is the computation of ground state properties of quantum many-body systems under Spin Orbit coupling (SOC) interactions out of the ultradilute regime. We present two approaches to fulfill this goal: the development and application of quantum Monte Carlo methods and the realization of beyond mean field calculations following the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism. Regarding the first approach, we show how to modify the standard Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) algorithm such that it can sample SOC interactions. We develop the formalism of two DMC methods suited to the simulation of SOC systems: the Discrete Spin T-moves DMC (DTDMC) and the Spin-Integrated DMC (SIDMC). Since the ground state wave function of a SOC system is complex, these methods work under the fixed phase approximation, meaning that they can not provide exact ground state estimates. DTDMC corresponds to an adaptation to discrete spin variables of a preexisting SOC DMC algorithm. This method requires the definition of an effective Hamiltonian to cure a sign problem in the propagator, which worsens the quality of its estimations. On the other hand, SIDMC, a completely original method developed in this thesis, is able to bypass the definition of the effective Hamiltonian by propagating the spin-integrated wave function of the system in imaginary time. As a consequence, SIDMC yields physical estimates closer to their ground state values. However, the SIDMC method is unable to sample spin-dependent two-body interactions. Through the use of the DTDMC algorithm, we elaborate the extension to the correlated regime of the phase diagram of a many-body Raman SOC system with spin-dependent two-body interactions. The results show that correlations favor the exotic stripe phase, which features density modulations, meaning that the stripe region of the phase diagram is enlarged as the level of correlations is increased. We also report results for the pair-distribution function, the static structure factor, the one-body density matrix and the superfluidity of the system. We show that the superfluid fraction across the stripes is non-zero, meaning that the stripes are superfluid, a consistent result with previous mean field calculations. Regarding the second prescription to account for correlations in a SOC system, we follow the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism in order to compute the first order correction by correlations to the mean field result. We compute the Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) energy correction for a Raman SOC system in the stripe phase for the first time. As an application, we are able to determine the role played by quantum fluctuations in a Raman SOC system in the stripe phase that is unstable at the mean field level due to attractive interactions. Such system is currently under experimental development. The results show that quantum fluctuations stabilize the collapse predicted by mean field theory, giving rise to a stabilized gas, or a stabilized liquid, depending on the values of the parameters of the Hamiltonian. Moreover, the finite system supports the existence of self-bound droplets as its ground state. These droplets show density modulations, induced by SOC. Therefore, they represent a novel state of matter in the field of ultracold atoms that combines the self-bound character of liquids, density modulations reminiscent of solids, and superfluidity. We also provide a phenomenological analytical functional of the density in order to ease the evaluation of the LHY energy. Finally, we also report a brief analysis of a quantum many-body system that features Spin Orbital Angular Coupling (SOAC). We perform DTDMC calculations in order to evaluate the impact of correlations in the system. We show that the mean field and DTDMC predictions for the energy and spin polarization agree in the range of parameters considered, meaning that correlations are not very relevant.
L'objectiu principal d'aquesta Tesi és el càlcul de propietats de l'estat fonamental de sistemes quàntics de molts cossos amb interaccions d'espí-òrbita fora del règim ultra-diluït. Es presenten dues prescripcions per dur a terme aquest objectiu: l’elaboració i utilització de mètodes de Monte Carlo i la realització de càlculs més enllà de l'aproximació de camp mig amb la tècnica de Bogoliubov-de Gennes. Pel que fa a la primera opció, es mostra com adaptar el mètode de Monte Carlo de Difusió (DMC) estàndard per tal de samplejar adequadament interaccions espí-òrbita. Es desenvolupa el formalisme de propagadors per dos mètodes diferents capaços d'assolir aquest objectiu. Aquest dos mètodes són el Discrete Spin T-moves DMC (DTDMC) i el Spin-Integrated DMC (SIDMC). El primer, l'algorisme DTDMC, es correspon a una adaptació d'un mètode prèviament existent a variables d'espí discretes. Aquest mètode requereix de la definició d'un Hamiltonià efectiu per curar un problema de signe, la qual cosa redueix la qualitat de les seves estimacions. D'altra banda, el segon mètode (SIDMC) és un algorisme completament original desenvolupat en aquest treball. Aquest mètode és capaç d'ignorar la definició d'aquest Hamiltonià efectiu per mitjà de la propagació en temps imaginari de la funció d'ona integrada a l'espai d'espins. Com a conseqüència, la qualitat de les estimacions obtingudes amb el SIDMC és superior a aquelles obtingudes amb el DTDMC. No obstant, el SIDMC és incapaç de samplejar interaccions a dos cossos que depenguin de l'espí. Fent servir el mètode DTDMC, s’elabora el l'extensió del diagrama de fases d'un sistema amb espí-òrbita Raman al règim correlacionat. Els resultats mostren que les correlacions afavoreixen l'exòtica fase amb modulacions de densitat, la fase stripe, que abasta una extensió del diagrama més gran quant major són les correlacions. A més, es reporten resultats per la distribució de parelles, el factor d'estructura estàtic, la matriu densitat a un cos, i es caracteritza quantitativament la superfluïdesa d'aquesta fase, mostrant una fracció superfluida no nul·la a la direcció transversal respecte a les modulacions de densitat. Pel que fa a la segona prescripció esmentada prèviament, s'ha seguit el formalisme de Bogoliubov-de Gennes per realitzar càlculs analítico-numèrics que tinguin en compte les correlacions a primer ordre respecte a un càlcul de camp mig per un sistema amb espí-òrbita Raman. Això ha permès obtenir la correcció de Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) a l'energia de camp mig per a la fase stripe d'aquest sistema per primer cop. Fent servir aquest resultat, s'ha pogut determinar el paper que juguen les fluctuacions quàntiques a un sistema a la fase stripe que és inestable a nivell de camp mig a causa de la presencia d'interaccions entre components d'espí suficientment atractives. Actualment, aquests sistemes es troben en desenvolupament experimental. Els resultats mostren que les fluctuacions quàntiques estabilitzen el sistema, i dónen lloc a una fase líquida o gas en funció del valor dels paràmetres de l'Hamiltonià. A més, el sistema finit suporta l'existència de gotes líquides auto-lligades com a estat fonamental. Aquestes gotes mostren modulacions de densitat induïdes per la interacció espí-òrbita. Per tant, representen un estat de la matèria novedós al camp dels gasos quàntics ultra-freds, ja que presenten una combinació de propietats de líquid, de sòlid i superfluïdesa. A fi de facilitar els càlculs de la correcció de LHY, es reporta un funcional fenomenològic que reprodueix amb precisió els resultats provinents de càlculs complerts. Finalment, també es reporta una breu anàlisi d'un sistema quàntic de molts cossos amb acoblament espí-òrbita de tipus angular. Es reporta un estudi amb DTDMC de l'impacte de les correlacions a un sistema d'aquest tipus.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-154).
This thesis presents experiments investigating the phase diagram of ultracold atomic Fermi gases using radio-frequency spectroscopy. The tunability of many experimental parameters including the temperature, the interparticle interaction strength and the relative population of different Fermions allows to access very different physical regimes. Radio-frequency spectroscopy has been developed into an ideal tool to probe correlations between particles in these different phases. In particular, radio-frequency spectroscopy of highly population imbalanced atomic Fermi systems gives access to the impurity problem: A single Fermion, or Boson, immersed in a sea of Fermions constitutes a polaron, which can be described by Landau's Fermi liquid theory. A critical interaction strength can be identified separating the regime of a fermionic polaron and a bosonic polaron. Radio-frequency spectroscopy of the polarized superfluid phase allows an accurate measure of the superfluid gap [Delta] and allows to identify the importance of Hartree Mean-field energies. Furthermore, it is shown how these different physical regimes are connected.
by Andre Schirotzek.
Ph.D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-149).
In this thesis, we investigate several methods to generate and probe the quantum correlations in ultracold gases using light. A high-finesse optical cavity is used to enhance the atom-light interaction and we can produce a variety of entangled states which can overcome the standard quantum limit. The quantum correlations are generated by sending very weak light into the cavity which contains many neutral atoms. We control the properties of the incoming photon, such as the polarization and/or the frequency spectrum, to obtain the final atomic states as desired. The photon transmitted through the cavity interacts with the atomic ensemble and becomes entangled with the atomic state. The amount of entanglement strength is usually small but non-zero. Placing a detector after the cavity, the tiny amount of entanglement will be dramatically amplified once a photon is heralded in the detector. Using this method, we demonstrated the first observation of the negative Wigner function in the many-body system, and largely extended the record of the maximum number of atoms entangled. Other than engineering entangled many-body system, we have also worked on reaching the quantum degenerate regime for the atomic gas, in order to enhance quantum correlations in future experiments. Laser cooling all the way to Bose-Einstein condensation of an alkali atom is experimentally realized for the first time. We demonstrate a special technique suppressing the binary atomic loss at high atomic density. By transferring the atoms between two different optical traps, the atomic cloud is compressed and the density is increased. Combining these with the Raman sideband cooling method, we achieve the phase space density over 1, and observe the bimodal velocity distribution characteristic of a Bose-Einstein condensate.
by Jiazhong Hu.
Ph. D.

This thesis describes the experimental realisation and characterisation of three non-trivial trapping geometries for ultracold atoms. The double-well, ring and to some degree shell trap are examples of a highly versatile class of traps called time-averaged adiabatic potentials (TAAPs). In this experiment the TAAPs arise from the combination of three independent magnetic fields; a static quadrupole field dressed by a uniform radio-frequency field is time-averaged by a bias field oscillating at in the kHz regime. The result is a very smooth potential, within which ultracold atoms can be evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy, and subsequently manipulated into new geometries without destroying the quantum coherence. The vertically offset double-well potential provided the first example of ultracold atoms confined in a TAAP. The same potential is used to demonstrate efficient evaporative cooling across the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) phase transition using only the Landau-Zener loss mechanism. Switching off the time-averaging fields loads atoms from the double-well TAAP into the rf-dressed shell trap. A characterisation of this potential measured low heating rates and lifetimes of up to 58s. With efforts ongoing to increase the trap anisotropy, this potential shows promise for research into the static and rapidly rotating 2D systems. In the presence of a single time-averaging field, the shell geometry is transformed into a ring-shaped trap with an adjustable radius. The ring trap can be controllably tilted and progress towards multiply connected condensates is being made. A rotation scheme to spin up atoms in the ring trap has been demonstrated, presenting the opportunity to investigate the dynamics of superflow in degenerate quantum gases.

This thesis describes a new apparatus designed to study ultracold gases of rubidium. The apparatus comprises a six-beam MOT chamber and a dierential pumping stage leading into a 'science chamber'. This science chamber is constructed from a rectangular glass cell. Atomic gases of rubidium are collected in a MOT and then transferred into a magnetic quadrupole trap. This quadrupole trap is mounted on a motorised translation stage. This setup transports the atoms into the science chamber, where they are transferred into a static quadrupole trap which is built around the glass cell. During the transport the atoms are deected over a glass prism, which shields the science chamber from stray rubidium from the MOT chamber. The magnetic transport is studied in detail and the deection over the glass prism is fully described simulating the displacement of the quadrupole trap. Using the magnetic quadrupole trap in the science chamber to store one rubidium isotope, we are able to load the other rubidium isotope in the MOT chamber and transfer it also into the science chamber. There, the two magnetic traps are merged and variable ratios of isotopic mixtures can be created. The merging of the two quadrupole traps could be employed in future experiments to cool 85Rb sympathetically with 87Rb. In the science chamber forced radio-frequency evaporation is performed and the loading of a far-detuned dipole trap is studied. Initially the dipole trap is realised as a hybrid trap, a single beam dipole trap in combination with the quadrupole trap. Further studies include the loading of a crossed beam dipole trap. We demonstrate that the apparatus is capable of producing 87Rb condensates. Preliminary studies of 85Rb in the dipole trap are included which hopefully in future will lead to a quantum degenerate gas of 85Rb.

This thesis contains a study of ultracold paramagnetic atoms or polar molecules characterized by a long-range anisotropic dipolar interaction. We particularly focus on two aspects of ultracold dipolar gases. In the first problem the ground state properties of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are investigated. This problem has gained importance due to recent experimental advances in achieving a condensate of Chromium atoms and ongoing research to produce quantum degenerate polar molecules. In the second problem, we consider possible applications of ultracold polar molecules to rotation sensing and interferometry. First, we concentrate on the interplay between the trapping geometry and dipole-dipole interaction for a polarized dipolar bosonic condensate. As the dipole-dipole interaction is attractive along the polarized direction, the lowest energy state of the BEC is always a collapsed state. However by applying a trapping potential along the polarization direction it is possible to achieve a metastable dipolar BEC. By numerically solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we show that below a critical interaction strength, a metastable state exists depending on the trapping geometry. We also show that a novel feature of dipolar BEC is the appearance of different structural metastable ground states for certain combinations of trapping geometry and particle number. Next, by mixing in single component fermions we show that dipolar BEC can be stabilized against collapse in pancake shaped or cylindrical traps. We also show that the excitation spectrum of the BEC may have a minimum for non-zero momentum, termed a “roton minimum”. This minimum leads to a transition to stable or metastable density-wave states depending on the density of the bosons and boson-fermion interaction strength. In the second problem, we study a proposal for a large-angle coherent beam splitter for polar molecules. By taking into account the effect of a quasi-static external electric field on the rotational levels of the polarized molecules we show that it is possible to coherently split a stationary cloud of molecules into two counter-propagating components. We then investigate the effect of longitudinal acceleration on the transverse motion of the particles, assuming that the longitudinal motion of the molecules can be approximated classically by a wave packet with some mean velocity while the transverse motion is governed by quantum mechanics. We propose a particular time-dependent shape of acceleration to minimize the excitations in the transverse motion. Our theory is also applicable to the general case of particles moving along a circular guide with time-dependent longitudinal velocity. In addition, we include the effects of velocity fluctuations due to noise in the accelerating field.

This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2019
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-214).
Ultracold quantum gases provide a clean, isolated, and controllable platform for simulating and characterizing complex physical phenomena. In this thesis, I present several experiments on realizing one-dimensional spin-orbit coupling in ultracold 23Na gases and the creation of a new form of matter with supersolid properties using interacting spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates. The first part describes the realization of spin-orbit coupling in optical superlattices which consist of stack of pancakes of imbalanced double-wells. The orbital levels, individual pancakes, in an superlattice potential are used as pseudospin states. Spinorbit coupling was induced by two-photon Raman transition between the pseudospin states, and was experimentally characterized by the spin-dependent momentum structure from this dressing. The realization suppresses heating due to spontaneous emission.
The system is highly miscible, allowing the study of novel phases in interacting spin-orbit coupled systems. Next, spin-orbit coupling was demonstrated by synchronizing a fast periodically modulating magnetic force with the Radio-Frequency (RF) pulses. The modulation effectively dressed the RF photons with tunable momentum. The consequent Doppler shifts for RF transitions were observed as velocity-selective spin flips. The scheme is equivalent to Floquet engineered one-dimensional spin-orbit coupling. Finally, I report experiments on creating a new form of matter, a supersolid, in ultracold quantum gases. An interacting spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in the stripe phase spontaneously breaks two continuous symmetries : the U(1) symmetry, observed as sharp interference peaks in momentum space, and the continuous translational symmetry, observed as a spontaneously formed density modulation. The density modulation is measured and characterized with Bragg scattering.
A system spontaneously breaking these two symmetries is a crystal and a superfluid simultaneously, and is considered as a supersolid.
by Junru Li.
Ph. D.
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics

Trapping ultracold atoms in optical lattices enabled the study of strongly correlated phenomena in an environment that is far more controllable and tunable than what was possible in condensed matter. Here, we consider coupling these systems to quantised light where the quantum nature of both the optical and matter fields play equally important roles in order to push the boundaries of what is possible in ultracold atomic systems. We show that light can serve as a nondestructive probe of the quantum state of matter. By considering a global measurement we show that it is possible to distinguish a highly delocalised phase like a superfluid from the Bose glass and Mott insulator. We also demonstrate that light scattering reveals not only density correlations, but also matter-field interference. By taking into account the effect of measurement backaction we show that the measurement can efficiently compete with the local atomic dynamics of the quantum gas. This can generate long-range correlations and entanglement which in turn leads to macroscopic multimode oscillations across the whole lattice when the measurement is weak and correlated tunnelling, as well as selective suppression and enhancement of dynamical processes beyond the projective limit of the quantum Zeno effect in the strong measurement regime. We also consider quantum measurement backaction due to the measurement of matter-phase-related variables such as global phase coherence. We show how this unconventional approach opens up new opportunities to affect system evolution and demonstrate how this can lead to a new class of measurement projections thus extending the measurement postulate for the case of strong competition with the system's own evolution.

Rydberg-dressed ground state atoms are atoms with an electron off-resonantly excited to a very high energy state, i.e., a state of high principal quantum number n ≫ 1. This thesis investigates the quantum dynamics of interacting Rydberg-dressed ground state atoms trapped in several multi-well potential traps. Rydberg atoms are atoms with exaggerated properties. One of their most interesting properties is that they exhibit a strong and long-ranged interaction that can be tuned leading to a variety of different quantum behaviours. My work focuses on studying the effects of these interacting atoms when loaded in multi-well potential traps. Generally, multi-well systems are considered as the simplest example of a finite optical lattice structure. For this reason, this thesis covers three research topics that examine the effects of long-range interaction on Rydberg-dressed atoms trapped in several potential confinements. I begin, in the introduction, by discussing the theoretical background of relevance to this work. It starts with presenting the physics of Bose-Einstein condensate. Then, the fundamentals of the interaction between two-level atom and light are analytically studied. This study has the purpose of understanding both; the dressed interacting atoms and optical lattices. The definition, characteristics, and the nature of the interaction between Rydberg atoms are analysed afterwards. The second chapter examines the dynamics of an ensemble of interacting Rydberg- dressed atoms trapped in static, i.e., time-independent, multi-well potentials using a mean-field theoretical approach. I choose one-dimensional double- and triple-well in addition to a two-dimensional quadruple-well potentials. The time-dependent non-linear Gross-Pitaevskii equation is used to numerically explore the ensemble's quantum dynamics. Solving the dynamical differential equations along with tuning the strength of the applied long-range interaction shows that the behaviour of non-interacting Rydberg-dressed atoms does not differ conceptually according to the geometry of the trapping potential. However, this changes when the interactions are switched on where the shape of the confinement leads to interesting outcomes especially in the non-linear interacting limit, such as macroscopic quantum self-trapping. After investigating an ensemble of interacting Rydberg-dressed atoms in static multi-well potential traps, the second research topic examines the dynamical evolution of these atoms when loaded in a finite optical lattice using the extended Bose-Hubbard model. In this chapter, the atoms ensemble is assumed to be in a superfluid state where I investigate both, the order parameter when the Rydberg excitation laser is applied and the interference pattern of the condensates in different dimensions. The study shows the emerging long-range interactions lead to a rapid collapse of the superfluid order parameter and in general allow only for partial revivals. In addition, the interference experiments can directly reveal the interaction between Rydberg-dressed atoms. In the fourth chapter, the dynamics of Rydberg-dressed atoms trapped in a dynamical, i.e., time-dependent, potential confinement is presented. The dynamical trap is constructed such that it begins as a harmonic oscillator and ends as a double- well potential. The analysis investigates an ensemble of contact-interacting atoms via the time-dependent non-linear GP equation.

In the original work of this Thesis we use Time Dependent Density Matrix Renormalization Group (TDMRG) to follow and study the unitary dynamics of 1D strongly interacting quantum systems. In the rest part we present our work on the collision of spin polarized fermionic clouds. We study spin drag e ects immediately after the collision. This work is relevant to current experiments where pure spin currents have been realized with ultracold atomic gases. Several of our predictions can be veri ed in future experiments on strongly interacting few-fermion systems. In the second part the highly imbalanced case of an impurity immersed in a bath of bosonic atoms is considered. The interaction of the impurity with the bath manifests in the mass renormalization and in the damping of the oscillations of the breathing mode of the impurity in a harmonic potential. We compare the TDMRG results with an analytically tractable model in which the bath is treated as a Luttinger liquid and pinpoint striking deviations from this picture due to the nonlinear nature of the Lieb-Liniger gas. This results are relevant to current and future experiments on impurities coupled to one-dimensional ultracold gases. Finally, we employ DMRG to study spin-orbit coupled bosons in 1D optical lattices, following recent remarkable experimental advances on arti cially engineered gauge elds and spin-orbit coupling in ultracold atoms. We concentrate in the Mott insulator region of the phase diagram of pseudospin-1/2 bosons with spin-orbit coupling and anisotropic interaction terms that fully break spin rotational symmetry.

The object of study of this thesis are dipolar systems in the quantum degenerate regime. In general, dealing with many-body systems and evaluating their properties requires to deal with the the Schrödinger equation. In the present study we employ different Monte Carlo methods that allow to find numerical solutions to it by employing a set of stochastic techniques. The simplest one that we introduce corresponds to the Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) method, that despite its simplicity, allows to obtain variational solutions to the many-body problem. A more accurate description is provided by Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), that provides exact solutions for the ground state of the system when dealing with bosons. We continue presenting two methods that rely on the Feynman's path integral formalism of quantum mechanics: Path Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) and Path Integral Ground State (PIGS), that provide exact solutions for the bosonic problem at finite and zero temperature respectively. In order to work with fermionic systems, as we do in chapter 4 of this thesis, the DMC algorithm has to be modified with the Fixed-Node (FN) approximation, what alows to avoid the sign problem. Doing so, the results obtained with DMC correspond to variational upper bounds to the energy. In chapter 3 we study the superfluid properties of a system of dipolar bosons that are fully polarized and in which the atoms are restricted to move in the plane. We also consider that all the dipolar moments form a certain tilting angle with the axis perpendicular to the plane, what allows to introduce anisotropy in the system. The phase diagram at zero temperature of this system reveals the existence of three different phases: gas, stripe and solid. Here we focus on the characterization of the superfluid properties across that phase diagram. Our calculations allow to address the question of whether the stripe phase of this system could be a candidate for the supersolid, a system that simultaneously exhibit spatial long-range order and superfluidity. By the employment of DMC and PIGS, we report finite supefluid and condensate fractions, both in the gas and the stripe phases. Then, the study is completed by performing finite temperature calculations, where the use of PIMC allows to characterize the BKT transition and to report the critical temperature at which it occurs in the different phases. Finally, by direct comparison with the predictions of the Luttinger Liquid theory, we explicitly show that the stripe phase can not be described as an ensemble of 1D isolated systems. In chapter 4, we study the fermionic dipolar system in two dimensions, focusing in the case in which all dipoles are polarized along the direction, that in this case is chosen to be the one perpendicular to the plane containing their movement. We compute the equation of state of the system in a wide range of interaction parameters. In the low density regime, the comparison of our results for the dipolar model with those of a hard-disks one allows to determine the regime of universality. On the other hand, at higher densities ( and before crystallization), we discuss the issue of itinerant ferromagnetism, that is, the possibility of having a polarized phase as the ground state of the system. The repulsive Fermi polaron with dipolar interaction, that corresponds to the limit of ultralow concentration of impurities embebed in a fermionic bath is also studied. Here we determine the regime of universality for this problem and compute observables that allow to discuss the validity of the quasi-particle picture. In the last part of the thesis, the formation of ultra-dilute dipolar droplets is studied. Our results are in agreement with experimental measurements performed with dysprosium atoms. On the other hand, the evaluation of their differences with the prediction of the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation makes it possible to determine the limits of the mean-field approach to this problem.
El objeto de estudio de esta tesis son los sistemas dipolares en el régimen cuántico degenardo. Usualmente, tratar con sistemas de muchos cuerpos y para evaluar sus propiedades requiere ser capaz de resolver la ecuación de Schrödinger. En el presente estudio, empleamos diferentes métodos de Monte Carlo, que permiten encontrar soluciones numéricas de forma estocásticas. La primera y más simple de estas técnicas es el método Variational Monte Carlo (VMC), que da una solución variacional. Una mejora sobre lo anterior consiste en emplear el método Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) que permite obtener soluciones exactas para el estado fundamental del sistema (cuando se estudian sistemas bosónicos). Continuamos presentando dos métodos que se basan en el formalismo Feynman de la mecánica cuántica: Path Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) y Path Integral Ground State (PIGS), que proporcionan soluciones exactas para el problema bosónico a temperatura finita y en el límite de temperatura cero respectivamente. Para trabajar con sistemas fermionicos, como es el caso del capítulo 4 de esta tesis, el algoritmo DMC tiene que ser modificado según la prescripción Fixed-Node para evitar el problema del signo. Al hacerlo, los resultados obtenidos con DMC se corresponden a soluciones variacionales a la energía. En el capítulo 3 estudiamos las propiedades superfluidas de un sistema de bosones dipolares completamente polarizados y en el que el movimiento de los dipolos está restringido al plano. También consideramos que los momentos dipolares forman un cierto ángulo con el eje perpendicular al plano, lo que permite introducir anisotropía en el sistema. El diagrama de fases a temperatura cero de este sistema revela la existencia de tres fases diferentes: gas, stripe y sólido. Aquí nos centramos en la caracterización de las propiedades superfluidas en ese diagrama de fases. Nuestros cálculos permiten abordar la cuestión de si la fase stripe de este sistema podría ser un candidato para el supersólido: un sistema en el que dos simetrías U (1) se rompen simultáneamente, permitiendo al sistema exhibir orden espacial de largo alcance y a la vez ser superfluido. Mediante el empleo de DMC y PIGS, evaluamos la fracción superfluída y el condensado, tanto en las fases de gas como en el stripe. Este estudio se completa con la extensión a temperatura finita, donde el uso de PIMC permite caracterizar la transición superfluida y obtener la temperatura crítica a la que ésta ocurre en las fases gas y stripe. Finalmente, por comparación directa con las predicciones Líquido de Luttinger, mostramos explícitamente que la fase de stripe no puede describirse como un conjunto de sistemas 1D aislados. En el capítulo 4, estudiamos el sistema dipolar fermiónico en dos dimensiones, enfocándonos en el caso en que todos los dipolos están polarizados a lo largo de la dirección que es perpendicular al plano que contiene su movimiento. Calculamos la ecuación de estado del sistema en un amplio rango de parámetros de interacción: a baja densidad, la comparación de nuestro modelo dipolar con uno de discos duros permite determinar el régimen de universalidad, mientras que a densidades más altas (antes de la cristalización), discutimos la posibilidad de una fase polarizada como el estado fundamental del sistema (ferromagnetismo itinerante). El polaron fermiónico dipolar, correspondiente al límite de impurezas ultradiluídas en un baño fermiónico también es estudiado, determinando el régimen de universalidad y los límites de validez de la aproximación de quasi-partícula. En la última parte de la tesis, la formación de gotas dipolares ultradiluídas es estudiada. Nuestros resultados están en acuerdo con medidas experimentales con átomos de disprosio. Por otro lado, la evaluación de las diferencias entre éstos y la predicción dada por la ecuación de Gross-Pitaevskii extendida, permite evaluar los límites de la aproximación

In this thesis, I present experiments on making and probing strongly correlated gases of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice with engineered potentials and dynamics. The quantum gas microscope first developed in our lab enables single-site resolution imaging and manipulation of atoms in a two-dimensional lattice, offering an ideal platform for quantum simulation of condensed matter systems. Here we demonstrate our abilities to generate optical potential with high precision and high resolution, and engineer coherent dynamics using photon assisted tunneling. We also create a system of bilayer quantum gases that brings new imaging capabilities and extends the possible range of our quantum simulation.
Physics

This thesis presents work on theoretical tools used to study transient and quantum-fluctuating impurity potentials that arise in resonant x-ray scattering and ultracold atomic gases. These tools fall under two main classes, functional determinants for exact evaluation of many-fermion matrix elements, and the variational polaron transformation. The following work carefully introduces both approaches and compares theoretical predictions to known experimental and computational results. In several cases this thesis presents arguments that experiments on high-temperature superconducting cup rates must be reinterpreted in terms of a quasiparticle picture. Where no experimental data exist, predictions are made and suggestions given for new uses for simple experimental techniques. For example, indirect resonant inelastic x-ray scattering turns out to be a versatile pseudo gap probe, and radio frequency absorption of a fermi gas with an impurity can detect a repulsively-bound state.
Physics

Les photons apparaissent comme des vecteurs d'information fiables, car ils interagissent peu avec leur environnement. Malheureusement, ils interagissent si faiblement entre eux que la réalisation directe de portes logiques optiques à deux qubits est impossible. La propagation à travers des milieux atomiques non-linéaires permet néanmoins d'engendrer des interactions photon-photon effectives. L'utilisation du phénomène de transparence électromagnétiquement induite (EIT) permet d'induire une forte non-linearité résonante -- néanmoins pas encore détectable dans le domaine quantique, sur une transition d'un système à trois niveaux en “échelle”. Pour augmenter les effets non-linéaires et atteindre le régime quantique, il a récemment été proposé de combiner l'approche EIT au blocage d'excitation induit par les fortes interactions dipôle-dipôle entre atomes de Rydberg. En plaçant le milieu en cavité, on impose à la lumière des passages multiples et on accroît encore la non-linéarité optique. Ce type de dispositif a été étudié théoriquement et expérimentalement dans le régime dispersif et pour une non-linéarité faible, pour lequel un traitement classique du champ est adapté. Dans le présent mémoire, nous nous intéressons aux effets optiques non-linéaires induits par un milieu Rydberg dans le régime quantique.Dans le chapitre 1, nous présentons notre système d'étude, ses équations dynamiques et rappelons la définition et les principales propriétés de la fonction de corrélation d'intensité g^{2}que nous utilisons pour caractériser l'action de la non-linéarité sur le champ incident. Dans le chapitre 2, nous considérons le régime dispersif, i.e. lorsque l'état intermediaire est très désaccordé et peut être éliminé adiabatiquement. Nous utilisons l'approximation des bulles Rydberg selon laquelle le système peut être effectivement ramené à un ensemble de superatomes à deux niveaux couplés au mode de la cavité, décrit par le modèle de Tavis-Cummings forcé. Nous calculons analytiquement et numériquement la fonction g^{2}pour la lumière transmise, qui, selon les paramètres de la cavité, peut être “groupée” ou “dégroupée”. Dans le chapitre 3, nous présentons un traitement alternatif du système, qui nous permet d'étudier le régime résonant. Dans la limite d'un champ incident faible, nous dérivons analytiquement la fonction de corrélation g^{2} pour les lumières transmise et réfléchie, grâce à la factorisation des moyennes de produits d'opérateurs à l'ordre le plus bas de la théorie de perturbation. Nous proposons ensuite un modèle effectif non-linéaire à trois bosons pour le système couplé atomes-cavité. Enfin, nous étudions le régime résonant et observons de nouvelles caractéristiques de la fonction de corrélation g^{2}qui attestent la relation entre les conditions d'adaptation d'impédance de la cavité pour les différentes composantes du champ et les interactions dipôle-dipôle entre les atomes. Dans le chapitre 4, nous analysons le système dans le formalisme de Schwinger-Keldysh. En appliquant le théorème de Wick, nous développons perturbativement les fonctions de corrélation par rapport au Hamiltonien d'alimentation de la cavité et au Hamiltonien d'interaction dipôle-dipôle et effectuons une resommation complète par rapport à ce dernier. Nous retrouvons par cette méthode les résultats du Chapitre 3, sous une forme analytique. Nous allons aussi au-delà et derivons des expressions analytiques pour les composantes élastique et inélastique du spectre en transmission de la cavité. Nous identifions une structure de résonance polaritonique, jusque-là inconnue, que nous interprétons physiquement. Dans le chapitre 5, nous décrivons un protocole de porte photonique de phase de haute fidélité fondé sur le blocage Rydberg dans un ensemble atomique placé dans une cavité optique. Ce protocole peut être réalisé avec des cavités de finesse modérée et permet en principe un traitement efficace de l'information quantique codée dans des photons
Photons appear as reliable information messengers since they interact very weakly with their environment. Unfortunately, they interact so weakly with each other that the direct implementation of optical two-qubit gates is impossible. The propagation through atomic nonlinear media however allows one to achieve effective photon-photon interactions. The technique of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) allows one to induce a strong resonant non-linearity -- not strong enough to be noticeable in the quantum domain though, on one of the transitions of a three-level ladder system. To enhance the nonlinear effects and reach the quantum regime, it was recently proposed to combine the EIT approach with the excitation blockade induced by the strong dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms. By putting the medium in a cavity, one imposes multiple passes to the light therefore increasing the optical nonlinearity. This kind of setup was studied both theoretically and experimentally in the dispersive regime and for a relatively weak nonlinearity, for which a classical treatment of the field is still valid. In this dissertation, we investigate the optical nonlinear effects induced by a Rydberg medium in the quantum regime.In chapter 1, we present our system, its dynamical equations and recall the definition and basic properties of the intensity correlation function g^{left(2right)}that we use to characterize the action of nonlinearity on the photonic field. In chapter 2, we consider the so-called dispersive regime, i.e. when the intermediate state is far detuned and can be adiabatically eliminated. We employ the Rydberg bubble approximation in which the system effectively consists in an ensemble of two-level superatoms coupled to the cavity mode, described by the driven Tavis-Cummings model. We compute analytically and numerically the g^{left(2right)}function of the transmitted light, which, depending on the cavity parameters, is shown to be either bunched or antibunched. In chapter 3, we present an alternative treatment of the system, which allows us to investigate the resonant regime. In the low-feeding limit, we analytically derive the correlation function g^{left(2right)}left(tauright)for the transmitted and reflected lights, based on the factorization of the lowest perturbative order of operator product averages. We then propose an effective non-linear three-boson model for the coupled atom-cavity system. Finally, we investigate the resonant regime and observe novel features of the correlation function g^{left(2right)}showing the interplay of impedance matching conditions and dipole-dipole interactions. In chapter 4, we analyze the system in the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. Applying Wick's theorem, we perturbatively expand correlation functions with respect to both, feeding and dipole-dipole interactions Hamiltonians and perform a complete resummation with respect to the latter. By this method we recover the results of Chap. 3 in an analytic form. We also go beyond and derive analytic expressions for the elastic and inelastic components of the cavity transmission spectrum. We identify a polaritonic resonance structure in this spectrum, to our knowledge unreported so far, that we physically interpret. In chapter 5, we describe a novel scheme for high fidelity photonic controlled-phase gates using Rydberg blockade in an ensemble of atoms in an optical cavity. This protocol can be implemented with cavities of moderate finesse allowing for highly efficient processing of quantum information encoded in photons

This Thesis describes new mechanisms for controlling elastic and inelastic collisions of ultracold atoms and molecules with static electromagnetic and laser fields. The dynamical properties of ultracold atoms are usually tuned in experiments by applying an external magnetic field to induce a Feshbach resonance. The work presented in this Thesis demonstrates the possibility of inducing and manipulating Feshbach resonances with electric fields. We discuss in detail the mechanisms of electric-field-induced resonances in ultracold mixtures of alkali metal atoms and demonstrate that electric fields may shift and split the magnetic resonances. We show that electric fields may spin up the collision complex of ultracold atoms and induce anisotropic scattering which may be exploited in experiments on many-body dynamics of ultracold gaseous mixtures. The mechanisms of electric-field-induced resonances described in this Thesis allow for two-dimensional control of inter-particle interactions, leading to total control over ultracold gases. To guide future experiments, we generate accurate interaction potentials for ultracold Li--Rb mixtures by fitting positions and widths of experimentally measured Feshbach resonances. Ultracold atomic and molecular gases can be confined by laser fields in one or two dimensions which produces an optical lattice of ultracold particles. We develop a multichannel scattering theory for collisions of atoms and molecules in two dimensions and explore the effects of the confining laser potential on inelastic and reactive collisions of ultracold atoms and molecules in a 1D optical lattice. We show that ultracold collisions can be controlled in a quasi-2D geometry by varying the orientation of a magnetic field with respect to the confinement plane normal and demonstrate that the threshold energy dependence of cross sections for inelastic collisions in an optical lattice can be tuned by varying the confining potential and the magnetic field. Our results show that applying laser confinement in one dimension may stabilize ultracold systems with large scattering lengths, which may open up interesting opportunities for studies of ultracold controlled chemistry and might lead to a new research direction of ultracold chemistry in restricted geometries.

Ultracold molecules are expected to find applications in cold chemistry, quantum phases, precision measurements and quantum information. In this thesis three novel applications of cold molecules are studied. First the thesis presents a general method for coherent control of collisions between non-identical particles. It is shown that by preparing two alkali-metal atoms in a superposition of hyperfine states, the elastic-to-inelastic cross section ratio can be manipulated at ultracold temperatures by tuning laser parameters in the presence of a magnetic field. The static field is needed to induce quantum interference between scattering states. Extensions of this scheme for ultracold molecular reactive scattering are discussed. Second, the thesis describes rotational excitons and polarons in molecular ensembles trapped in optical lattices. Rotational excitons can be manipulated using static electric and magnetic fields. For a one-dimensional molecular array with substitutional impurities any localized exciton state can be delocalized by applying a suitable electric field. The electric field induces correlations between diagonal and off-diagonal disorder. It is also shown that the translational motion of polar molecules in an optical lattice can lead to phonons. The lattice dynamics and the phonon spectrum depend on the strength and orientation of a static electric field. An array of polar molecules in an optical lattice can be described by generalized polaron model with tunable parameters including diagonal and off-diagonal exciton-phonon interactions. It is shown that in a strong electric field the system is described by a generalized Holstein model, and at weak electric fields by the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. The possibility of observing a sharp polaron transition in the SSH model using polar alkali-metal dimers is discussed. Finally, the thesis presents a method to generate entanglement of polar molecules using strong off-resonant laser pulses. Bipartite entanglement between alkali-metal dimers separated by hundreds of nanometers can be generated. Maximally entangled states can be prepared by tuning the pulse intensity and duration. A scheme is proposed to observe the violation of Bell’s inequality based on molecular orientation correlation measurements. It is shown that using a combination of microwave and off-resonant optical pulses, arbitrary tripartite and many-particle states can be prepared.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-185).
In this thesis, two sets of experimental studies in bosonic and fermionic gases are described. In the first part of the thesis, itinerant ferromagnetism was studied in a strongly interacting Fermi gas of ultracold atoms. The observation of nonmonotonic behavior of lifetime, kinetic energy, and size for increasing repulsive interactions provides strong evidence for a phase transition to a ferromagnetic state. Our observations imply that itinerant ferromagnetism of delocalized fermions is possible without lattice and band structure, and our data validate the most basic model for ferromagnetism introduced by Stoner. In the second part of the thesis, the coherence properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) was studied in a radio frequency induced double-well potential implemented on a microfabricated atom chip. We observed phase coherence between the separated condensates for times up to 200 ms after splitting, a factor of 10 longer than the phase diffusion time expected for a coherent state for our experimental conditions. The enhanced coherence time is attributed to number squeezing of the initial state by a factor of 10. Furthermore, the effect of phase fluctuations on an atom interferometer was studied in an elongated BEC. We demonstrated that the atom interferometer using the condensates is robust against phase fluctuations; i.e., the relative phase of the split condensates is reproducible despite axial phase fluctuations. Finally, phase-sensitive recombination of two BECs was demonstrated on an atom chip. The recombination was shown to result in heating, caused by the dissipation of dark solitons, which depends on the relative phase of the two condensates. This heating reduces the number of condensate atoms and provides a robust way to read out the phase.
by Gyu-Boong Jo.
Ph.D.

L’exploration de systèmes quantiques à N corps fortement corrélés représente l’un des domaines de recherche les plus stimulants de la physique contemporaine. Au cours des trente dernières années, les vapeurs diluées d’atomes neutres en suspension dans le vide et contrôlées par un laser sont devenues une plate-forme polyvalente et formidable pour l’étude de tels systèmes. L’intérêt principal réside dans la capacité d’ajuster arbitrairement la force de l’interaction atomique au moyen de résonances de Feshbach induites magnétiquement, ainsi que la possibilité de créer une large gamme de potentiels via des champs optiques précisément adaptés. Cette thèse présente les résultats récents de l’expérience FerMix, consacrée à l’étude des systèmes quantiques à plusieurs corps fermioniques à des températures ultra-basses utilisant les atomes alcalins 40K et 6Li. Les principaux résultats présentés dans ce texte sont doubles. Premièrement, nous rapportons la caractérisation expérimentale d’une nouvelle résonance de Feshbach (s,d)-wave du 40K, dont les résultats sont comparés aux prédictions théoriques correspondantes. En particulier, le spectre du taux de perte inélastique est déterminé pour différentes températures et profondeurs de piège, ce qui nous permet d’identifier les pertes en tant que processus à deux corps. De plus, il est confirmé que le canal d’entrée dominant est de type s-wave. À l’aide de modèles d’équation de taux, nous analysons le réchauffement observé de l’ensemble atomique et trouvons que le comportement est cohérent avec l’état lié prévu L = 2 présent dans le canal de sortie. Enfin, nous étudions expérimentalement la dynamique des populations de spin induite par les collisions inélastiques renforcées par résonance dans l’onde d, en observant un bon accord avec nos modèles numériques. En second lieu, nous résumons nos progrès dans l’étude des croisements dimensionnels entre le liquide de Tomonaga-Luttinger en 1D et le liquide de Landau-Fermi en 3D en utilisant les gaz de Fermi de 40K confinés dans un réseau optique à grand pas. Cela inclut à la fois les considérations de conception fondamentales et l’installation du matériel expérimental requis
The exploration of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems represents one of the most challenging fields of research of contemporary physics. Over the past thirty years, dilute vapors of neutral atoms suspended in vacuum and controlled with laser light have become a versatile and powerful platform for the study of such systems. At the very heart lies the ability to arbitrarily tune the interaction strength by means of magnetically induced Feshbach resonances as well as the possibility to create a wide range of potential landscapes via precisely tailored optical fields. This thesis reports on the recent results of the FerMix experiment, which is dedicated to the study of fermionic quantum many-body-systems at ultralow temperatures using the Alkali atoms 40K and 6Li. The main results presented in this text are twofold. First, we report on the experimental characterization of a novel (s,d)-wave Feshbach resonance in 6Li, the results of which are compared to the corresponding theoretical predictions. In particular, the spectrum of the inelastic loss rate is determined for different temperatures and trap depths, which enables us to identify the losses as two-body processes. Moreover, the dominant entrance channel is confirmed to be s-wave in nature. Using rate equation models we analyze the observed heating of the atomic ensemble and find the behavior to be consistent with the predicted L = 2 bound state present in the exit channel. Finally, we investigate experimentally the dynamics of the spin populations driven by resonantly enhanced inelastic collisions in dwave, observing good agreement with our numerical models. Second, we summarize our progress towards the study of dimensional crossovers between the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid in 1D and the Landau-Fermi liquid in 3D using Fermi gases of 40K confined in a large spacing optical lattice. This includes both the fundamental design considerations as well as the implementation of the required experimental hardware