Engineering quantum particle systems, such as quantum simulators and quantum cellular automata, relies on full coherent control of quantum paths at the single particle level. Here we present an atom interferometer operating with single trapped atoms,
where single particle wave packets are controlled through spin-dependent potentials. The interferometer is constructed from a sequence of discrete operations based on a set of elementary building blocks, which permit composing arbitrary interferometer geometries in a digital manner. We use this modularity to devise a spacetime analogue of the well-known spin echo technique, yielding insight into decoherence mechanisms. We also demonstrate mesoscopic delocalization of single atoms with a separation-to-localization ratio exceeding 500; this suggests their utilization beyond quantum logic applications as nano-resolution quantum probes in precision measurements, being able to measure potential gradients with precision $5times 10^{-4}$ in units of gravitational acceleration $g$.
We report on the experimental realization of electric quantum walks, which mimic the effect of an electric field on a charged particle in a lattice. Starting from a textbook implementation of discrete-time quantum walks, we introduce an extra operati
on in each step to implement the effect of the field. The recorded dynamics of such a quantum particle exhibits features closely related to Bloch oscillations and interband tunneling. In particular, we explore the regime of strong fields, demonstrating contrasting quantum behaviors: quantum resonances vs. dynamical localization depending on whether the accumulated Bloch phase is a rational or irrational fraction of 2pi.
We report on the realization of dynamical control of transport for ultra-cold Sr88 atoms loaded in an accelerated and amplitude-modulated 1D optical lattice. We tailor the energy dispersion of traveling wave packets and reversibly switch between Wann
ier-Stark localization and driven transport based on coherent tunneling. Within a Loschmidt-echo scheme where the atomic group velocities are reversed at once, we demonstrate a novel mirror for matter waves working independently of the momentum state and discuss possible applications to force measurements at micrometric scales.
