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arXiv:0905.4780 · Physical Review Letters

Mapping Out Atom-Wall Interaction with Atomic Clocks

Andrei Derevianko, Boyan Obreshkov, V. A. Dzuba

Published Sep 23, 2009• 35 citations
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Abstract

We explore the feasibility of probing atom-wall interaction with atomic clocks based on atoms trapped in engineered optical lattices. Optical lattice is normal to the wall. By monitoring the wall-induced clock shift at individual wells of the lattice, one would measure the dependence of the atom-wall interaction on the atom-wall separation. We find that the induced clock shifts are large and observable at already experimentally demonstrated levels of accuracy. We show that this scheme may uniquely probe the long-range atom-wall interaction in all three qualitatively distinct regimes of the interaction: van der Waals (image-charge interaction), Casimir-Polder (QED vacuum fluctuations), and Lifshitz (thermal-bath fluctuations) regimes.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.103.133201

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Scaling up the performance of atomic clocks requires understanding complex many-body Hamiltonians to ensure meaningful gains for metrological applications. Here we use a degenerate Fermi gas loaded into a three-dimensional optical lattice to study the effect of a tunable Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. The clock laser introduces a spin-orbit coupling spiral phase and breaks the isotropy of superexchange interactions, leading to XXZ-type spin anisotropy. By tuning the lattice confinement and applying imaging spectroscopy, we map out favorable atomic coherence regimes. We transition through various interaction regimes and observe coherent superexchange, tunable through on-site interaction and site-to-site energy shift, affecting the Ramsey fringe contrast over timescales >1 second. This study lays the groundwork for using a three-dimensional optical lattice clock to probe quantum magnetism and spin entanglement.