A forthcoming challenge in ultracold lattice gases is the simulation of quantum magnetism. That involves both the preparation of the lattice atomic gas in the desired spin state and the probing of the state. Here we demonstrate how a probing scheme based on atom-light interfaces gives access to the order parameters of nontrivial quantum magnetic phases, allowing us to characterize univocally strongly correlated magnetic systems produced in ultracold gases. This method, which is also nondemolishing, yields spatially resolved spin correlations and can be applied to bosons or fermions. As a proof of principle, we apply this method to detect the complete phase diagram displayed by a chain of (rotationally invariant) spin-1 bosons.
A forthcoming challenge in ultracold lattice gases is the simulation of quantum magnetism. That involves both the preparation of the lattice atomic gas in the desired spin state and the probing of the state. Here we demonstrate how a probing scheme based on atom-light interfaces gives access to the order parameters of nontrivial quantum magnetic phases, allowing us to characterize univocally strongly correlated magnetic systems produced in ultracold gases. This method, which is also nondemolishing, yields spatially resolved spin correlations and can be applied to bosons or fermions. As a proof of principle, we apply this method to detect the complete phase diagram displayed by a chain of (rotationally invariant) spin-1 bosons.
Summary form only given. Ultra-cold atomic gases trapped in optical lattices offer an unprecedented playground for studying the quantum phases of many-body systems. In particular, quantum states of ultra-cold lattice gases with spin degrees of freedom may be used to simulate quantum magnetism and to investigate physics relevant for our understanding of high-Tcsuperconductivity. While enormous progress has been made towards engineering such systems, achieving the regime of high-Tcsuperconductivity remains experimentally extremely challenging because of the low temperatures required [1].Here, we describe a new technique for the preparation of quantum spin-correlations in a lattice gas of ultracold atoms using atom-light interaction of the kind routinely employed in quantum spin polarization spectroscopy (QPS) [2], a promising technique for detecting quantum phases in lattice gases via quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. Motivated by recent experimental work demonstrating the generation of spin-squeezing and entanglement in atomic ensembles via QND measurement [3], and by the recent extension of these ideas to unpolarized ensembles [5], we propose an alternative approach to preparing quantum spin-correlations, demonstrating that a simple modification of the experimental scheme of Ref. [4] allows for the on-demand preparation of spatial spin-correlations in a quantum lattice gas. Our method is based on entropic cooling via QND measurement and feedback, and allows the creation and detection of quantum spin-correlations, as well as a certain degree of multipartite entanglement, which we verify by deriving a novel generalization of the entanglement witness decribed in Ref. [5]. The proposed technique works with an unpolarized ensemble of non-interacting spins such as may be obtained by loading ultracold atoms into a deep optical lattice. We illustrate the procedure with examples drawn from the bilinear-biquadratic Hamiltonian, which can be modeled by a 1D chain of spin-1 atoms, showing that it is possible to prepare exponentially- and algebraically-decaying correlations, as well as spatial correlation signatures of more exotic quantum phases such as quantum criticalities.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices provide an extremely clean and controllable setting to explore quantum many-body phases of matter. Here we give a brief review of the strong-correlation physics that has been realized using such ultracold atoms in optical lattices ranging from the realization of Hubbard models to studies of quantum magnetism and the detection of single atoms with lattice site resolution. All this has opened up fundamentally new opportunities for the investigation of quantum many-body systems. Introduction Over the past years, ultracold atoms in optical lattices have emerged as versatile new systems to explore the physics of quantum many-body systems. On the one hand, they can be helpful in gaining a better understanding of known phases of matter and their dynamical behavior; on the other hand, they allow one to realize completely novel quantum systems that have not been studied before in nature [1, 2, 3]. Commonly, the approach of exploring quantum many-body systems in such a way is referred to as “quantum simulations.” Examples of some of the first strongly interacting many-body phases that have been realized both in lattices and in the continuum include the quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator [4, 5, 6], fermionic Mott insulators [7, 8], the achievement of a Tonks- Girardeau gas [9, 10], and the realization of the Bose-Einsten condensate (BEC)– Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) crossover (see also Chapter 12) in Fermi gas mixture [11] using Feshbach resonances [12]. In almost all of these experiments, detection was limited to time-of-flight imaging or more refined derived techniques that mainly characterized the momentum distribution of the quantum gas [2]. For several years, researchers in the field have therefore aspired to employ in situ single-particle detection methods for the analysis of ultracold quantum gases. Only recently has it become possible to implement such imaging techniques, marking a milestone for the characterization and manipulation of ultracold quantum gases [13, 14, 15, 16, 17]. In our discussion, we will focus on one of the most successful of these techniques based on high-resolution fluorescence imaging. Despite being a rather new technique, such quantum gas microscopy has already proven to be an enabling technology for probing and manipulating quantum many-body systems. For the first time, controllable and strongly interacting many-body systems, as realized with ultracold atoms, could be observed on a local scale [17, 16].
In this thesis, I present the experimental realisation of the two-dimensional Hubbard model with ultracold fermionic Potassium-40 atoms in optical lattices. By tuning the dimensionality, kinetic and interaction in the optical lattices, we perform an analogue quantum simulation to explore the phase diagram of the Hubbard model. \n \nThe first key result is the experimental observation of particle-hole symmetry, namely a phase mapping between repulsive and attractive interactions. We compare a density-ordered, Mott-insulating phase with repulsive interaction to a spin-ordered, preformed pair phase and found excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction. The precise control and excellent detection capability of our quantum gas apparatus allow us to validate the particle-hole symmetry, and utilise it to explore quantum phases with a novel approach. \n \nNext, we investigate the spin-ordering on the repulsive side. By implementing a novel scheme based on coherent manipulation of spin correlations, we probe the anti-ferromagnetic ordering in the low-temperature phase diagram. The momentum-resolved spin correlations permit the reconstruction of spatial correlators without site-resolved imaging fidelity. \n \nFinally, we probe the attractive side of the phase diagram with a focus in pairing phenomenon, in which we draw a close analogy with BCS-BEC crossovers present in high-temperature superconducting cuprates and trapped ultracold Fermi gases. From the pair correlation function derived from thermodynamics observables, we observe the competition between the effective Pauli repulsion in fermionic systems and the on-site attraction we implemented.
This thesis describes experiments which investigate ultracold atom \nensembles in an optical lattice. Such quantum gases are powerful models for solid state physics. Several novel methods are demonstrated that probe the special properties of strongly correlated states in lattice potentials. Of these, quantum noise spectroscopy reveals spatial correlations in such states, which are hidden when using the usual methods of probing atomic gases. Another spectroscopic technique makes it possible to demonstrate the existence of a shell structure of regions with constant densities. Such coexisting phases separated by sharp boundaries had been theoretically predicted for the Mott insulating state.\nThe tunneling processes in the optical lattice in the strongly correlated regime are probed by preparing the ensemble in an optical superlattice potential. This allows the time-resolved observation of the tunneling dynamics, and makes it possible to directly identify correlated tunneling processes.\n
A system of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice provides a powerful platform for quantum simulation. In our laboratory, we use a quantum gas microscope to tune lattice parameters not only in a global scale but also at the level of individual sites. This allows us to control and detect the quantum state of interacting many-body systems as well as to engineer a broad class of Hamiltonians with high fidelity. Leveraging this versatility, we can realize several types of strongly correlated bosonic systems, which present intriguing behaviors and implement novel phases of matter. Analyzing snapshots of the atomic distribution with single-site resolution, we measure correlations and entanglement within these systems to reveal their main features, including non-equilibrium dynamics and quantum phase transitions. In this thesis, I present the works performed by our team for four different types of systems. First of all, I briefly introduce the behavior of a 1D disordered system in the critical regime between the thermal and the many-body-localized phases. In particular, we discuss what happens when a disordered and a non-disordered region are coupled via a single site. We find evidence for accelerated transport of thermal inclusion into the localized region, which shows the existence of a quantum avalanche, i.e. thermalization via accelerated transport throughout the localized system. In the second part, we realize a fractional quantum Hall state using an artificial gauge field, by implementing an adiabatic preparation protocol. We identify a topological phase transition in our system and characterize several key physical features expected for a Laughlin state by measuring density correlations and Hall conductivity. The next topic of this thesis relates to quantum magnetism. Mapping nearest hopping in a tilted optical lattice to spin flips, we realize a finite one-dimensional chain of 1/2-spins with closed boundary conditions. We perform an in-depth investigation on behaviors shown across the quantum phase transition between paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic ground states, including the evolution of the magnetization and Néel order parameter. Also, we find evidence for quantum superposition at the many-body level as a result of geometric frustration. In the last chapter, I report the experimental realization of a novel dipolar Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, based on a strongly tilted lattice system. When the tilt becomes the dominant energy scale, the Hamiltonian is fragmented, and the system behaves in a way that conserves dipole moment. Starting from a 1D chain of unity filled sites, we generate individual dipolar and anti-dipolar excitations at desired pinpoints. We observe quantum walks of these dipolar quasi-particles as well as their scattering dynamics, which allows us to study this new type of Hamiltonian using a bottom-up approach.