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arXiv:2608.02425

Measurement and control of the interaction frequency shift in bosonic optical lattice clocks

J. P. Salvatierra, M. Barbiero, G. Bertaina, D. Calonico, F. Levi, M. G. Tarallo

physics.atom-phquant-phSubmitted Aug 3, 2026• Announced Aug 4, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We report precise measurements of inter-level interactions in a bosonic optical lattice clock based on $^{88}$Sr atoms. We observe a nonlinear density dependence of the clock shift, even without reaching quantum degeneracy. In a 2D lattice, the Rabi line shape exhibits an interaction sideband consistent with a collective spin model, while in a 1D lattice the shift is modified by density-induced dephasing. These findings, combined with a careful choice of interrogation detuning and atomic density, can enable operation at a net-zero systematic density shift in $^{88}$Sr lattice clocks. We discuss the implications of these findings in many-body physics, quantum simulation, and precision isotope shift measurements, which provide a powerful probe for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

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•Oct 14, 2021•0 citations
We report precise measurements of inter-level interactions in a bosonic optical lattice clock based on 88^{88}88Sr atoms. We observe a nonlinear density dependence of the clock shift, even without reaching quantum degeneracy. In a 2D lattice, the Rabi line shape exhibits an interaction sideband consistent with a collective spin model, while in a 1D lattice the shift is modified by density-induced dephasing. These findings, combined with a careful choice of interrogation detuning and atomic density, can enable operation at a net-zero systematic density shift in 88^{88}88Sr lattice clocks. We discuss the implications of these findings in many-body physics, quantum simulation, and precision isotope shift measurements, which provide a powerful probe for new physics beyond the Standard Model.
Strongly interacting quantum many-body systems arise in many areas of physics, but their complexity generally precludes exact solutions to their dynamics. We explored a strongly interacting two-level system formed by the clock states in (87)Sr as a laboratory for the study of quantum many-body effects. Our collective spin measurements reveal signatures of the development of many-body correlations during the dynamical evolution. We derived a many-body Hamiltonian that describes the experimental observation of atomic spin coherence decay, density-dependent frequency shifts, severely distorted lineshapes, and correlated spin noise. These investigations open the door to further explorations of quantum many-body effects and entanglement through use of highly coherent and precisely controlled optical lattice clocks.
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We describe recent experimental progress with the JILA Sr optical frequency standard, which has a systematic uncertainty at the 10-(16) fractional frequency level. An upgraded laser system has recently been constructed in our lab which may allow the JILA Sr standard to reach the standard quantum measurement limit and achieve record levels of stability. To take full advantage of these improvements, it will be necessary to operate a lattice clock with a large number of atoms, and systematic frequency shifts resulting from atomic interactions will become increasingly important. We discuss how collisional frequency shifts can arise in an optical lattice clock employing fermionic atoms and describe a novel method by which such systematic effects can be suppressed.
We consider designs of optical lattice clocks in view of the quantum statistics, relevant atomic spins, and atom-lattice interactions. The first two issues lead to two optimal constructions for the clock: a one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice loaded with spin-polarized fermions and a 3D optical lattice loaded with bosons. By taking atomic multipolar interactions with the lattice fields into account, an "atomic motion insensitive" wavelength is proposed to provide a precise definition of the "magic wavelength." We then present a frequency comparison of these two optical lattice clocks: spin-polarized fermionic 87 Sr and bosonic 88 Sr prepared in 1D and 3D optical lattices, respectively. Synchronous interrogations of these two optical lattice clocks by the same probe laser allowed canceling out its frequency noise as a common mode noise to achieve a relative stability of 3 × 10 −17 for an averaging time of τ = 350 s. The scheme, therefore, provides us with a powerful means to investigate intrinsic uncertainty of the clocks regardless of the probe laser stability. We discuss prospects of the synchronous operation of the clocks on the measurement of the geoid height difference and on the search of constancy of fundamental constants.
Optical lattice clocks with uncertainty and instability in the 10􀀀17-range and below have so far been demonstrated exclusively using fermions. Here, we demonstrate a bosonic optical lattice clock with 3 10􀀀18 instability and 2:0 10􀀀17 accuracy, both values improving on previous work by a factor 30. This was enabled by probing the clock transition with an ultra-long interrogation time of 4 s, using the long coherence time provided by a cryogenic silicon resonator, by careful stabilization of relevant operating parameters, and by operating at low atom density. This work demonstrates that bosonic clocks, in combination with highly coherent interrogation lasers, are suitable for highaccuracy applications with particular requirements, such as high reliability, transportability, operation in space, or suitability for particular fundamental physics topics. As an example, we determine the 88Sr { 87Sr isotope shift with 12 mHz uncertainty.
The quantum metrology with ultra-high precision usually requires the atoms prepared in an ultra-stable environment with well-defined quantum states. Thus, the optical lattice clock system chooses deep lattice potential to trap the ultra-cold atoms. However, building atomic clock in shallow optical lattice can greatly reduce decoherence rate induced by Raman scattering as well as higher order light shift, but tunneling among the lattice sites will cause additional dephasing and strongly broadening of the Rabi spectrum. Here, we periodically drive the shallow 87^{87}87Sr optical lattice clock in the experiment. Counterintuitively, shaking the system can deform the wide broad spectral line into a sharp peak with 5.4Hz line-width. With careful comparison between the theory and experiment, we demonstrate the Rabi frequency and Bloch bands can be simultaneously and independently tuned by adjusting the driving frequency and amplitude. Our work not only provides a different idea for quantum metrology, such as building shallow optical lattice clock in outer space, but also paves the way for quantum simulation of new phase of matter, such as engineering exotic spin orbit coupling Hamiltonian.