We investigate experimentally and theoretically the dynamical properties of a Mott insulator in decoupled one-dimensional chains. Using a theoretical analysis of the Bragg excitation scheme we show that the spectrum of inter-band transitions holds information on the single-particle Greens function of the insulator. In particular the existence of particle-hole coherence due to quantum fluctuations in the Mott state is clearly seen in the Bragg spectra and quantified. Finally we propose a scheme to directly measure the full, momentum resolved spectral function as obtained in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of solids.
Gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) have become an important test bed for studying the dynamics of quantized vortices. In this work we use two-photon Doppler sensitive Bragg scattering to study the rotation of sodium BECs. We analyze the microscopic flow field and present laboratory measurements of the coarse-grained velocity profile. Unlike time-of-flight imaging, Bragg scattering is sensitive to the direction of rotation and therefore to the phase of the condensate. In addition, we have non-destructively probed the vortex flow field using a sequence of two Bragg pulses.
We theoretically analyze the Bragg spectroscopic interferometer of two spatially separated atomic Bose-Einstein condensates that was experimentally realized by Saba et al. [Science 2005 v307 p1945] by continuously monitoring the relative phase evolution. Even though the atoms in the light-stimulated Bragg scattering interact with intense coherent laser beams, we show that the phase is created by quantum measurement-induced back-action on the homodyne photo-current of the lasers, opening possibilities for quantum-enhanced interferometric schemes. We identify two regimes of phase evolution: a running phase regime which was observed in the experiment of Saba et al., that is sensitive to an energy offset and suitable for an interferometer, and a trapped phase regime, that can be insensitive to applied forces and detrimental to interferometric applications.
We study the dynamics of a one-dimensional system composed of a bosonic background and one impurity in single- and double-well trapping geometries. In the limit of strong interactions, this system can be modeled by a spin chain where the exchange coefficients are determined by the geometry of the trap. We observe non-trivial dynamics when the repulsion between the impurity and the background is dominant. In this regime, the system exhibits oscillations that resemble the dynamics of a Josephson junction. Furthermore, the double-well geometry allows for an enhancement in the tunneling as compared to the single-well case.
This study develops a novel experimental method of deducing the profile of interaction induced between impurities in a trapped gas of ultracold Fermi/Bose atoms, which are often referred to as Fermi/Bose polarons. In this method, we consider a two-body Fermi/Bose polaron collision experiment in which impurities and atoms interact only weakly. Numerical simulations of the quantum dynamics reveal the possibility to obtain information regarding the non-local induced interaction between two polarons from a measured profile of the polaron wave packet at several snapshots. This is because the potential of the induced interaction is well balanced by the quantum potential whenever the WKB approximation for the relevant Schr{o}dinger equation is applicable.
We report on the measurement of the scattering properties of ultracold $^{174}$Yb bosons in a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice. Site occupancy in an atomic Mott insulator is resolved with high-precision spectroscopy on an ultranarrow optical clock transition. Scattering lengths and loss rate coefficients for $^{174}$Yb atoms in different collisional channels involving the ground state $^1$S$_0$ and the metastable $^3$P$_0$ are derived. These studies set important constraints for future experimental studies of two-electron atoms for quantum-technological applications.