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arXiv:0811.0925 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Quantum measuring processes for trapped ultracold bosonic gases

Sebastiano Anderloni, Fabio Benatti, Roberto Floreanini B, Andrea Trombettoni

Published Dec 9, 2008• 4 citations
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Abstract

The standard experimental techniques usually adopted in the study of the behaviour of ultracold atoms in optical lattices involve extracting the atom density profile from absorption images of the atomic sample after trap release. Quantum mechanically this procedure is described by a generalized measure (POVM); interference patterns found in absorption images suggest a generalized measure based on fixed-phase, coherent-like states. We show that this leads to an average atomic density which differs from the usually adopted one, obtained as the expectation value of the atom density operator in the many-body state.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/42/3/035306

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The standard experimental techniques usually adopted in the study of the behaviour of ultracold atoms in optical lattices involve extracting the atom density profile from absorption images of the atomic sample after trap release. Quantum mechanically this procedure is described by a generalized measure (POVM); interference patterns found in absorption images suggest a generalized measure based on fixed-phase, coherent-like states. We show that this leads to an average atomic density which differs from the usually adopted one, obtained as the expectation value of the atom density operator in the many-body state.
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We consider collective light scattering from ultracold atoms trapped in a deep optical lattice. Different atomic quantum states were shown to exhibit qualitatively different light scattering. This suggests a novel nondestructive method to probe atomic quantum statistics and characterize quantum phase transitions, e.g., between Mott insulator and superfluid states. The method is based on measurements of light fields only, in contrast to the standard methods based on matter-field interference, which destroys the system.
Engineered ultracold atomic systems are a valuable platform for fundamental quantum mechanics studies and the development of quantum technologies. At near zero absolute temperature, atoms exhibit macroscopic phase coherence and collective quantum behavior, enabling their use in precision metrology, quantum simulation, and even information processing. This review provides an introductory overview of the key techniques used to trap, manipulate, and detect ultracold atoms, while highlighting the main applications of each method. We outline the principles of laser cooling, magnetic and optical trapping, and the most widely used techniques, including optical lattices and tweezers. Next, we discuss the manipulation methods of atomic internal and external degrees of freedom, and we present atom interferometry techniques and how to leverage and control interatomic interactions. Next, we review common ensemble detection strategies, including absorption and fluorescence imaging, state-selective readout, correlation and quantum non-demolition measurements and conclude with high-resolution approaches. This review aims to provide newcomers to the field with a broad understanding of the experimental toolkit that underpins research in ultracold atom physics and its applications across quantum science and technology.
Ultracold bosonic and fermionic quantum gases in optical lattices can be used as versatile model systems for the investigation of fundamental condensed matter physics hamiltonians. We report on two novel detection techniques, which have allowed us to reveal e.g. the in trap density profile of strongly correlated bosonic quantum gases in the lattice. Thereby we have been able to observe the formation of spatial shell structures in the density of the trapped atom cloud across the superfluid to Mott insulator transition. In addition we use quantum noise correlations in expanding bosonic and fermionic atom clouds released from the lattice to observe quantum statistical Hanbury‐Brown and Twiss type hunching and antibunching of the atoms and show that this can be used to reveal the ordering of the particles in the lattice.