Entanglement is an essential property of quantum many-body systems. However, its local detection is challenging and was so far limited to spin degrees of freedom in ion chains. Here we measure entanglement between the spins of atoms located on two la
ttice sites in a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard chain which features both local spin- and particle-number fluctuations. Starting with an initially localized spin impurity, we observe an outwards propagating entanglement wave and show quantitatively how entanglement in the spin sector rapidly decreases with increasing particle-number fluctuations in the chain.
More than eighty years ago, H. Bethe pointed out the existence of bound states of elementary spin waves in one-dimensional quantum magnets. To date, identifying signatures of such magnon bound states has remained a subject of intense theoretical rese
arch while their detection has proved challenging for experiments. Ultracold atoms offer an ideal setting to reveal such bound states by tracking the spin dynamics after a local quantum quench with single-spin and single-site resolution. Here we report on the direct observation of two-magnon bound states using in-situ correlation measurements in a one-dimensional Heisenberg spin chain realized with ultracold bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. We observe the quantum walk of free and bound magnon states through time-resolved measurements of the two spin impurities. The increased effective mass of the compound magnon state results in slower spin dynamics as compared to single magnon excitations. In our measurements, we also determine the decay time of bound magnons, which is most likely limited by scattering on thermal fluctuations in the system. Our results open a new pathway for studying fundamental properties of quantum magnets and, more generally, properties of interacting impurities in quantum many-body systems.
Quantum magnetism describes the properties of many materials such as transition metal oxides and cuprate superconductors. One of its elementary processes is the propagation of spin excitations. Here we study the quantum dynamics of a deterministicall
y created spin-impurity atom, as it propagates in a one-dimensional lattice system. We probe the full spatial probability distribution of the impurity at different times using single-site-resolved imaging of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. In the Mott-insulating regime, a post-selection of the data allows to reduce the effect of temperature, giving access to a space- and time-resolved measurement of the quantum-coherent propagation of a magnetic excitation in the Heisenberg model. Extending the study to the baths superfluid regime, we determine quantitatively how the bath strongly affects the motion of the impurity. The experimental data shows a remarkable agreement with theoretical predictions allowing us to determine the effect of temperature on the coherence and velocity of impurity motion. Our results pave the way for a new approach to study quantum magnetism, mobile impurities in quantum fluids, and polarons in lattice systems.
The transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator (MI) phase has been observed in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ytterbium (Yb) atoms in an optical lattice. An all-optically produced BEC of 174Yb atoms was loaded into three-dimensional optica
l lattices produced by a 532 nm laser beam. The interference pattern was measured after releasing the quantum gas from the trapping potential. As increasing the optical lattice depth, we observed the disappearance of the interference patterns, which is a signature of entering the MI regime. This result is an important step into studies by using a combination of the MI state and the ultranarrow optical transition of ultracold alkaline-earth-like atoms.
We report the realization of quantum degenerate mixed gases of ytterbium (Yb) isotopes using all-optical methods. We have succeeded in cooling attractively interacting 176Yb atoms via sympathetic cooling down to below the Bose-Einstein transition tem
perature, coexisting with a stable condensate of 174Yb atoms with a repulsive interaction. We have observed a rapid atom loss in 176Yb atoms after cooling down below the transition temperature, which indicates the collapse of a 176Yb condensate. The sympathetic cooling technique has been applied to cool a 173Yb-174Yb Fermi-Bose mixture to the quantum degenerate regime.
We report the observation of a Bose Einstein condensate in a bosonic isotope of ytterbium (170Yb). More than 10^6 atoms are trapped in a crossed optical dipole trap and cooled by evaporation. Condensates of approximately 10^4 atoms have been obtained
. From an expansion of the condensate, we have extracted the scattering length a=3.6(9) nm.
