Direct observation of a sub-Poissonian number distribution of atoms in an optical lattice

Preparation of Ultracold Atom Clouds at the Shot Noise Level

We prepare number stabilized ultracold atom clouds through the real-time analysis of nondestructive images and the application of feedback. In our experiments, the atom number N∼10^{6} is determined by high precision Faraday imaging with uncertainty ΔN below the shot noise level, i.e., ΔN<sqrt[N]. Based on this measurement, feedback is applied to reduce the atom number to a user-defined target, whereupon a second imaging series probes the number stabilized cloud. By this method, we show that the atom number in ultracold clouds can be prepared below the shot noise level.

Single atom detection in ultracold quantum gases: a review of current progress

The recent advances in single atom detection and manipulation in experiments with ultracold quantum gases are reviewed. The discussion starts with the basic principles of trapping, cooling and detecting single ions and atoms. The realization of single atom detection in ultracold quantum gases is presented in detail and the employed methods, which are based on light scattering, electron scattering, field ionization and direct neutral particle detection are discussed. The microscopic coherent manipulation of single atoms in a quantum gas is also covered. Various examples are given in order to highlight the power of these approaches to study many-body quantum systems.

Generation and detection of a sub-Poissonian atom number distribution in a one-dimensional optical lattice

We demonstrate preparation and detection of an atom number distribution in a one-dimensional atomic lattice with the variance -14  dB below the Poissonian noise level. A mesoscopic ensemble containing a few thousand atoms is trapped in the evanescent field of a nanofiber. The atom number is measured through dual-color homodyne interferometry with a pW-power shot noise limited probe. Strong coupling of the evanescent probe guided by the nanofiber allows for a real-time measurement with a precision of ±8  atoms on an ensemble of some 10(3)  atoms in a one-dimensional trap. The method is very well suited for generating collective atomic entangled or spin-squeezed states via a quantum nondemolition measurement as well as for tomography of exotic atomic states in a one-dimensional lattice.

Observing atom bunching by the Fourier slice theorem

By a novel reciprocal space analysis of the measurement, we report a calibrated in situ observation of the bunching effect in a 3D ultracold gas. The calibrated measurement with no free parameters confirms the role of the exchange symmetry and the Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect in the bunching. Also, the enhanced fluctuations of the bunching effect give a quantitative measure of the increased isothermal compressibility. We use 2D images to probe the 3D gas, using the same principle by which computerized tomography reconstructs a 3D image of a body. The powerful reciprocal space technique presented is applicable to systems with one, two, or three dimensions.

Phonon dispersion relation of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

We measure the time oscillations of a freely evolving standing wave of phonons in a Bose-Einstein condensate. We present the technique of short Bragg pulses, which stimulates the standing wave. The subsequent oscillations are observed in situ. The frequency of the oscillations gives the dispersion relation, the amplitude gives the static structure factor, and the decay gives the dephasing time. The new technique gives orders of magnitude more sensitivity than Bragg spectroscopy, allowing for the observation of deviations from the local density approximation. Specifically, it is seen that the phonons undergo a transition from three dimensions to one dimension, when their wavelength becomes longer than the transverse radius of the condensate. The one-dimensional regime contains an inflection point in the dispersion relation, a decrease in the superfluid critical velocity, a minimum in the group velocity, and an increase in the lifetime of the standing wave oscillations.

Strong quantum spin correlations observed in atomic spin mixing

We have observed sub-Poissonian spin correlations generated by collisionally induced spin mixing in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate. We measure a quantum noise reduction of -7 dB (-10 dB corrected for detection noise) below the standard quantum limit for the corresponding coherent spin states. The spin fluctuations are detected as atom number differences in the spin states using fluorescent imaging that achieves a detection noise floor of 8 atoms per spin component for a probe time of 100 μs.

Sub-Poissonian fluctuations in a 1D Bose gas: from the quantum quasicondensate to the strongly interacting regime

We report on local, in situ measurements of atom number fluctuations in slices of a one-dimensional Bose gas on an atom chip setup. By using current modulation techniques to prevent cloud fragmentation, we are able to probe the crossover from weak to strong interactions. For weak interactions, fluctuations go continuously from super- to sub-Poissonian as the density is increased, which is a signature of the transition between the subregimes where the two-body correlation function is dominated, respectively, by thermal and quantum contributions. At stronger interactions, the super-Poissonian region disappears, and the fluctuations go directly from Poissonian to sub-Poissonian, as expected for a "fermionized" gas.

Sub-poissonian number differences in four-wave mixing of matter waves

We demonstrate sub-Poissonian number differences in four-wave mixing of Bose-Einstein condensates of metastable helium. The collision between two Bose-Einstein condensates produces a scattering halo populated by pairs of atoms of opposing velocities, which we divide into several symmetric zones. We show that the atom number difference for opposing zones has sub-Poissonian noise fluctuations, whereas that of nonopposing zones is well described by shot noise. The atom pairs produced in a dual number state are well adapted to sub-shot-noise interferometry and studies of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-type nonlocality tests.

Suppression of density fluctuations in a quantum degenerate Fermi gas

We study density profiles of an ideal Fermi gas and observe Pauli suppression of density fluctuations (atom shot noise) for cold clouds deep in the quantum degenerate regime. Strong suppression is observed for probe volumes containing more than 10 000 atoms. Measuring the level of suppression provides sensitive thermometry at low temperatures. After this method of sensitive noise measurements has been validated with an ideal Fermi gas, it can now be applied to characterize phase transitions in strongly correlated many-body systems.

Sub-Poissonian atom-number fluctuations by three-body loss in mesoscopic ensembles

We show that three-body loss of trapped atoms leads to sub-Poissonian atom-number fluctuations. We prepare hundreds of dense ultracold ensembles in an array of magnetic microtraps which undergo rapid three-body decay. The shot-to-shot fluctuations of the number of atoms per trap are sub-Poissonian, for ensembles comprising 50-300 atoms. The measured relative variance or Fano factor F=0.53+/-0.22 agrees very well with the prediction by an analytic theory (F=3/5) and numerical calculations. These results will facilitate studies of quantum information science with mesoscopic ensembles.