Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1102.0803

Matter-Wave Imaging of Quantum Density Fluctuations in Ultracold Bosons in an Optical Lattice

Scott N. Sanders, Florian Mintert, Andreas Buchleitner

Published Feb 3, 2011• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study the influence of quantum density fluctuations in ultracold atoms in an optical lattice on the scattering of matter waves. Such fluctuations are characteristic of the superfluid phase and vanish due to increased interactions in the Mott insulating phase. We employ an analytical treatment of the scattering and demonstrate that the fluctuations lead to incoherent processes, which we propose to observe via decoherence of the fringes in a Mach-Zender interferometer. In this way we extract the purely coherent part of the scattering. Further, we show that the quantum density fluctuations can also be observed directly in the differential angular scattering cross section for an atomic beam scattered from the atoms in a lattice. Here we find an explicit dependence of the scale of the inelastic scattering on the quantum density fluctuations.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1102.0803

Related papers

Matter-Wave Scattering from Ultracold Atoms in an Optical Lattice

Scott N. Sanders, Florian Mintert, Eric J. Heller

We study matter-wave scattering from an ultracold, many-body atomic system trapped in an optical lattice. The angular cross section of the target lattice for a matter wave is determined and is demonstrated to have a strong dependence on the many-body phase, superfluid, or Mott insulator. Analytical approaches are employed deep in the superfluid and Mott-insulator regimes, while intermediate points in the phase transition are treated numerically. Matter-wave scattering offers a convenient method for nondestructively probing the quantum many-body phase transition of atoms in an optical lattice.

arXiv:0910.1873•Physical Review Letters•Jul 15, 2010•16 citations

Light scattering by ultracold atoms in an optical lattice

Stefan Rist, Chiara Menotti, Giovanna Morigi

We investigate theoretically light scattering of photons by ultracold atoms in an optical lattice in the linear regime. A full quantum theory for the atom-photon interactions is developed as a function of the atomic state in the lattice along the Mott-insulator--superfluid phase transition, and the photonic-scattering cross section is evaluated as a function of the energy and of the direction of emission. The predictions of this theory are compared with the theoretical results of a recent work on Bragg scattering in time-of-flight measurements [A.M. Rey et al., Phys. Rev. A 72, 023407 (2005)]. We show that, when performing Bragg spectroscopy with light scattering, the photon recoil gives rise to an additional atomic site-to-site hopping, which can interfere with ordinary tunneling of matter waves and can significantly affect the photonic-scattering cross section.

arXiv:0904.0915•Physical Review A•Jan 5, 2010•29 citations

Matter-wave scattering from strongly interacting bosons in an optical lattice

K. Ulrich Mayer, Alberto Rodríguez, Andreas Buchleitner

We study the scattering of a matter wave from an interacting system of bosons in an optical lattice, focusing on the strong-interaction regime. Analytical expressions for the many-body scattering cross section are derived from a strong-coupling expansion and a site-decoupling mean-field approximation and compared to numerically obtained exact results. In the thermodynamic limit, we find a nonvanishing inelastic cross section throughout the Mott insulating regime, which decays quadratically as a function of the boson-boson interaction.

arXiv:1503.03661•Physical Review A•May 29, 2015•6 citations

Thermal effects in light scattering from ultracold bosons in an optical lattice

Kazimierz Łakomy, Zbigniew Idziaszek, Marek Trippenbach

We study the scattering of a weak and far-detuned light from a system of ultracold bosons in one-dimensional and three-dimensional optical lattices. We show the connection between angular distributions of the scattered light and statistical properties of a Bose gas in a periodic potential. The angular patterns are determined by the Fourier transform of the second-order correlation function, and thus they can be used to retrieve information on particle number fluctuations and correlations. We consider superfluid and Mott-insulator phases of the Bose gas in a lattice and we analyze in detail how the scattering depends on the system dimensionality, temperature, and atom-atom interactions.

arXiv:0904.2927•Physical Review A•Oct 7, 2009•16 citations

A phase microscope for quantum gases

Justus C. Brüggenjürgen, Mathis S. Fischer, Christof Weitenberg

Coherence properties are central to quantum systems and are at the heart of phenomena such as superconductivity. In this work, we studied coherence properties of an ultracold Bose gas in a two-dimensional optical lattice across the thermal phase transition. To infer the phase coherence and phase fluctuation profiles, we used direct matter-wave imaging of higher Talbot revivals and introduced a phase microscope based on a site-resolved mapping of phase fluctuations to density fluctuations during matter-wave imaging. We observed the algebraic decay of the phase correlations in the superfluid phase and a linear temperature increase of the exponent. These techniques may enable studying coherence properties in strongly correlated quantum systems with full spatial resolution.

arXiv:2410.10611•Science•Jul 9, 2026•2 citations

Density correlation effect of incoherent ultracold atoms in an optical lattice

Xu Zhi-Jun, Xiayin Liu

Atoms in the Mott insulator state trapped in an optical lattice are incoherence matter wave source. It is not the first-order, but the second-order interference effect (density correlation) that will appear for this incoherence wave source after being released. A density correlation function of the freely expanding ultracold gases is obtained theoretically, which presents sharp peaks of interference, and the stripes structure is similar to the diffraction gratings. It is further pointed out that the peak structure of the density correlation function depends on the relative position between two detectors. The phenomenon of subwavelength interference of matter waves is also proposed in this paper.

Acta Physica Sinica•Jan 1, 2011•5 citations
We study the influence of quantum density fluctuations in ultracold atoms in an optical lattice on the scattering of matter waves. Such fluctuations are characteristic of the superfluid phase and vanish due to increased interactions in the Mott insulating phase. We employ an analytical treatment of the scattering and demonstrate that the fluctuations lead to incoherent processes, which we propose to observe via decoherence of the fringes in a Mach-Zender interferometer. In this way we extract the purely coherent part of the scattering. Further, we show that the quantum density fluctuations can also be observed directly in the differential angular scattering cross section for an atomic beam scattered from the atoms in a lattice. Here we find an explicit dependence of the scale of the inelastic scattering on the quantum density fluctuations.
We study matter-wave scattering from an ultracold, many-body atomic system trapped in an optical lattice. The angular cross section of the target lattice for a matter wave is determined and is demonstrated to have a strong dependence on the many-body phase, superfluid, or Mott insulator. Analytical approaches are employed deep in the superfluid and Mott-insulator regimes, while intermediate points in the phase transition are treated numerically. Matter-wave scattering offers a convenient method for nondestructively probing the quantum many-body phase transition of atoms in an optical lattice.
We investigate theoretically light scattering of photons by ultracold atoms in an optical lattice in the linear regime. A full quantum theory for the atom-photon interactions is developed as a function of the atomic state in the lattice along the Mott-insulator--superfluid phase transition, and the photonic-scattering cross section is evaluated as a function of the energy and of the direction of emission. The predictions of this theory are compared with the theoretical results of a recent work on Bragg scattering in time-of-flight measurements [A.M. Rey et al., Phys. Rev. A 72, 023407 (2005)]. We show that, when performing Bragg spectroscopy with light scattering, the photon recoil gives rise to an additional atomic site-to-site hopping, which can interfere with ordinary tunneling of matter waves and can significantly affect the photonic-scattering cross section.
We study the scattering of a matter wave from an interacting system of bosons in an optical lattice, focusing on the strong-interaction regime. Analytical expressions for the many-body scattering cross section are derived from a strong-coupling expansion and a site-decoupling mean-field approximation and compared to numerically obtained exact results. In the thermodynamic limit, we find a nonvanishing inelastic cross section throughout the Mott insulating regime, which decays quadratically as a function of the boson-boson interaction.
We study the scattering of a weak and far-detuned light from a system of ultracold bosons in one-dimensional and three-dimensional optical lattices. We show the connection between angular distributions of the scattered light and statistical properties of a Bose gas in a periodic potential. The angular patterns are determined by the Fourier transform of the second-order correlation function, and thus they can be used to retrieve information on particle number fluctuations and correlations. We consider superfluid and Mott-insulator phases of the Bose gas in a lattice and we analyze in detail how the scattering depends on the system dimensionality, temperature, and atom-atom interactions.
Coherence properties are central to quantum systems and are at the heart of phenomena such as superconductivity. In this work, we studied coherence properties of an ultracold Bose gas in a two-dimensional optical lattice across the thermal phase transition. To infer the phase coherence and phase fluctuation profiles, we used direct matter-wave imaging of higher Talbot revivals and introduced a phase microscope based on a site-resolved mapping of phase fluctuations to density fluctuations during matter-wave imaging. We observed the algebraic decay of the phase correlations in the superfluid phase and a linear temperature increase of the exponent. These techniques may enable studying coherence properties in strongly correlated quantum systems with full spatial resolution.
Atoms in the Mott insulator state trapped in an optical lattice are incoherence matter wave source. It is not the first-order, but the second-order interference effect (density correlation) that will appear for this incoherence wave source after being released. A density correlation function of the freely expanding ultracold gases is obtained theoretically, which presents sharp peaks of interference, and the stripes structure is similar to the diffraction gratings. It is further pointed out that the peak structure of the density correlation function depends on the relative position between two detectors. The phenomenon of subwavelength interference of matter waves is also proposed in this paper.