Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Spin Chain of a Few Cold Atoms in a One-Dimensional Trap

Ultrastable Super-Tonks-Girardeau Gases under Weak Dipolar Interactions

The highly excited super-Tonks-Girardeau (sTG) gas was recently observed to be extremely stable in the presence of a weak dipolar repulsion. Here we reveal the underlying reason for this mysterious phenomenon. By exactly solving the trapped small clusters with both contact and dipolar interactions, we show that the reason lies in the distinct spectral responses between sTG gas and its decaying channel (bound state) when a weak dipolar interaction is present. Specifically, a tiny dipolar force can produce a visible energy shift for the localized bound state, but can hardly affect the extended sTG branch. As a result, the avoided level crossing between two branches is greatly modified in both location and width in the parameter axis of coupling strength, leading to a more (less) stable sTG gas for a repulsive (attractive) dipolar force. These results, consistent with experimental observations, are found to robustly apply to both bosonic and fermionic systems.

New trends in quantum integrability: recent experiments with ultracold atoms

Over the past two decades quantum engineering has made significant advances in our ability to create genuine quantum many-body systems using ultracold atoms. In particular, some prototypical exactly solvable Yang-Baxter systems have been successfully realized allowing us to confront elegant and sophisticated exact solutions of these systems with their experimental counterparts. The new experimental developments show a variety of fundamental one-dimensional (1D) phenomena, ranging from the generalized hydrodynamics to dynamical fermionization, Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids, collective excitations, fractional exclusion statistics, quantum holonomy, spin-charge separation, competing orders with high spin symmetry and quantum impurity problems. This article briefly reviews these developments and provides rigorous understanding of those observed phenomena based on the exact solutions while highlighting the uniqueness of 1D quantum physics. The precision of atomic physics realizations of integrable many-body problems continues to inspire significant developments in mathematics and physics while at the same time offering the prospect to contribute to future quantum technology.

Learning the Fuzzy Phases of Small Photonic Condensates

Phase transitions, being the ultimate manifestation of collective behavior, are typically features of many-particle systems only. Here, we describe the experimental observation of collective behavior in small photonic condensates made up of only a few photons. Moreover, a wide range of both equilibrium and nonequilibrium regimes, including Bose-Einstein condensation or laserlike emission are identified. However, the small photon number and the presence of large relative fluctuations places major difficulties in identifying different phases and phase transitions. We overcome this limitation by employing unsupervised learning and fuzzy clustering algorithms to systematically construct the fuzzy phase diagram of our small photonic condensate. Our results thus demonstrate the rich and complex phase structure of even small collections of photons, making them an ideal platform to investigate equilibrium and nonequilibrium physics at the few particle level.

Quantum chaos, equilibration, and control in extremely short spin chains

The environment of an open quantum system is usually modelled as a large many-body quantum system. However, when an isolated quantum system itself is a many-body quantum system, the question of how large and complex it must be to generate internal equilibration is an open key-point in the literature. In this work, by monitoring the degree of equilibration of a single spin through its purity degradation, we are able to sense the chaotic behavior of the generic spin chain to which it is coupled. Quite remarkably, this holds even in the case of extremely short spin chains composed of three spins, where we can also reproduce the whole integrable to chaos transition. Finally, we discuss implications on quantum control experiments and show that quantum chaos reigns over the best degree of control achieved, even in small chains.

Detecting One-Dimensional Dipolar Bosonic Crystal Orders via Full Distribution Functions

We explore the ground states of a few dipolar bosons in optical lattices with incommensurate filling. The competition of kinetic, potential, and interaction energies leads to the emergence of a variety of crystal state orders with characteristic one- and two-body densities. We probe the transitions between these orders and construct the emergent state diagram as a function of the dipolar interaction strength and the lattice depth. We show that the crystal state orders can be observed using the full distribution functions of the particle number extracted from simulated single-shot images.

Static and Dynamic Properties of a Few Spin 1/2 Interacting Fermions Trapped in a Harmonic Potential

We provide a detailed study of the properties of a few interacting spin 1 / 2 fermions trapped in a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator potential. The interaction is assumed to be well represented by a contact delta potential. Numerical results obtained by means of direct diagonalization techniques are combined with analytical expressions for both the non-interacting and strongly interacting regime. The N = 2 case is used to benchmark our numerical techniques with the known exact solution of the problem. After a detailed description of the numerical methods, in a tutorial-like manner, we present the static properties of the system for N = 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 particles, e.g., low-energy spectrum, one-body density matrix, ground-state densities. Then, we consider dynamical properties of the system exploring first the excitation of the breathing mode, using the dynamical structure function and corresponding sum-rules, and then a sudden quench of the interaction strength.

Stable and charge-switchable quantum batteries

A fully operational loss-free quantum battery requires an inherent control over the energy transfer process, with the ability of keeping the energy retained with no leakage. Moreover, it also requires a stable discharge mechanism, which entails that no energy revivals occur as the device starts its energy distribution. Here we provide a scalable solution for both requirements. To this aim, we propose a general design for a quantum battery based on an energy current (EC) observable quantifying the energy transfer rate to a consumption hub. More specifically, we introduce an instantaneous EC operator describing the energy transfer process driven by an arbitrary interaction Hamiltonian. The EC observable is shown to be the root for two main applications: (1) a trapping energy mechanism based on a common eigenstate between the EC operator and the interaction Hamiltonian, in which the battery can indefinitely retain its energy even if it is coupled to the consumption hub, and (2) an asymptotically stable discharge mechanism, which is achieved through an adiabatic evolution eventually yielding vanishing EC. These two independent but complementary applications are illustrated in quantum spin chains, where the trapping energy control is realized through Bell pairwise entanglement and the stability arises as a general consequence of the adiabatic spin dynamics.

Transition from quantum chaos to localization in spin chains

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in quantum chaos and related aspects of spatially extended systems, such as spin chains. However, the results are strongly system dependent: generic approaches suggest the presence of many-body localization, while analytical calculations for certain system classes, here referred to as the "self-dual case," prove adherence to universal (chaotic) spectral behavior. We address these issues studying the level statistics in the vicinity of the latter case, thereby revealing transitions to many-body localization as well as the appearance of several nonstandard random-matrix universality classes.

Mass-Imbalanced Atoms in a Hard-Wall Trap: An Exactly Solvable Model Associated with D6 Symmetry

We show that a system consisting of two interacting particles with mass ratio 3 or 1/3 in a hard-wall box can be exactly solved by using Bethe-type ansatz. The ansatz is based on a finite superposition of plane waves associated with a dihedral group D₆, which enforces the momentums after a series of scattering and reflection processes to fulfill the D₆ symmetry. Starting from a two-body elastic collision model in a hard-wall box, we demonstrate how a finite momentum distribution is related to the D_2n symmetry for permitted mass ratios. For a quantum system with mass ratio 3, we obtain exact eigenenergies and eigenstates by solving Bethe-type-ansatz equations for arbitrary interaction strength. A many-body excited state of the system is found to be independent of the interaction strength, i.e., the wave function looks exactly the same for non-interacting two particles or in the hard-core limit.

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At nonergodicity points, the permitted momentums fulfill the D_2n symmetry

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The Bethe Ansatz method is extended to solve the mass-imbalanced quantum system

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We exactly solve the interacting two-particle system in a hard-wall with mass ratio 3

Dynamics of spin and density fluctuations in strongly interacting few-body systems

The decoupling of spin and density dynamics is a remarkable feature of quantum one-dimensional many-body systems. In a few-body regime, however, little is known about this phenomenon. To address this problem, we study the time evolution of a small system of strongly interacting fermions after a sudden change in the trapping geometry. We show that, even at the few-body level, the excitation spectrum of this system presents separate signatures of spin and density dynamics. Moreover, we describe the effect of considering additional internal states with SU(N) symmetry, which ultimately leads to the vanishing of spin excitations in a completely balanced system.

One-dimensional mixtures of several ultracold atoms: a review

Recent theoretical and experimental progress on studying one-dimensional systems of bosonic, fermionic, and Bose-Fermi mixtures of a few ultracold atoms confined in traps is reviewed in the broad context of mesoscopic quantum physics. We pay special attention to limiting cases of very strong or very weak interactions and transitions between them. For bosonic mixtures, we describe the developments in systems of three and four atoms as well as different extensions to larger numbers of particles. We also briefly review progress in the case of spinor Bose gases of a few atoms. For fermionic mixtures, we discuss a special role of spin and present a detailed discussion of the two- and three-atom cases. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different computation methods applied to systems with intermediate interactions. In the case of very strong repulsion, close to the infinite limit, we discuss approaches based on effective spin chain descriptions. We also report on recent studies on higher-spin mixtures and inter-component attractive forces. For both statistics, we pay particular attention to impurity problems and mass imbalance cases. Finally, we describe the recent advances on trapped Bose-Fermi mixtures, which allow for a theoretical combination of previous concepts, well illustrating the importance of quantum statistics and inter-particle interactions. Lastly, we report on fundamental questions related to the subject which we believe will inspire further theoretical developments and experimental verification.

Implementation of a stable, high-power optical lattice for quantum gas microscopy

We describe the design and implementation of a stable high-power 1064 nm laser system to generate optical lattices for experiments with ultracold quantum gases. The system is based on a low-noise laser amplified by an array of four heavily modified, high-power fiber amplifiers. The beam intensity is stabilized and controlled with a nonlinear feedback loop. Using real-time monitoring of the resulting optical lattice, we find the stability of the lattice site positions to be well below the lattice spacing over the course of hours. The position of the harmonic trap produced by the Gaussian envelope of the lattice beams is stable to about one lattice spacing and the long-term (six-month) relative root-mean-square stability of the lattice spacing itself is 0.5%.

A unified ab initio approach to the correlated quantum dynamics of ultracold fermionic and bosonic mixtures

We extent the recently developed Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree method for Bosons for simulating the correlated quantum dynamics of bosonic mixtures to the fermionic sector and establish a unifying approach for the investigation of the correlated quantum dynamics of a mixture of indistinguishable particles, be it fermions or bosons. Relying on a multi-layer wave-function expansion, the resulting Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree method for Mixtures (ML-MCTDHX) can be adapted to efficiently resolve system-specific intra- and inter-species correlations. The versatility and efficiency of ML-MCTDHX are demonstrated by applying it to the problem of colliding few-atom mixtures of both Bose-Fermi and Fermi-Fermi types. Thereby, we elucidate the role of correlations in the transmission and reflection properties of the collisional events. In particular, we present examples where the reflection (transmission) at the other atomic species is a correlation-dominated effect, i.e., it is suppressed in the mean-field approximation.

Two-Dimensional Homogeneous Fermi Gases

We report on the experimental realization of homogeneous two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gases trapped in a box potential. In contrast to harmonically trapped gases, these homogeneous 2D systems are ideally suited to probe local as well as nonlocal properties of strongly interacting many-body systems. As a first benchmark experiment, we use a local probe to measure the density of a noninteracting 2D Fermi gas as a function of the chemical potential and find excellent agreement with the corresponding equation of state. We then perform matter wave focusing to extract the momentum distribution of the system and directly observe Pauli blocking in a near unity occupation of momentum states. Finally, we measure the momentum distribution of an interacting homogeneous 2D gas in the crossover between attractively interacting fermions and bosonic dimers.

Low-Entropy States of Neutral Atoms in Polarization-Synthesized Optical Lattices

We create low-entropy states of neutral atoms by utilizing a conceptually new optical-lattice technique that relies on a high-precision, high-bandwidth synthesis of light polarization. Polarization-synthesized optical lattices provide two fully controllable optical lattice potentials, each of them confining only atoms in either one of the two long-lived hyperfine states. By employing one lattice as the storage register and the other one as the shift register, we provide a proof of concept using four atoms that selected regions of the periodic potential can be filled with one particle per site. We expect that our results can be scaled up to thousands of atoms by employing an atom-sorting algorithm with logarithmic complexity, which is enabled by polarization-synthesized optical lattices. Vibrational entropy is subsequently removed by sideband cooling methods. Our results pave the way for a bottom-up approach to creating ultralow-entropy states of a many-body system.

Atom-by-atom assembly of defect-free one-dimensional cold atom arrays

The realization of large-scale fully controllable quantum systems is an exciting frontier in modern physical science. We use atom-by-atom assembly to implement a platform for the deterministic preparation of regular one-dimensional arrays of individually controlled cold atoms. In our approach, a measurement and feedback procedure eliminates the entropy associated with probabilistic trap occupation and results in defect-free arrays of more than 50 atoms in less than 400 milliseconds. The technique is based on fast, real-time control of 100 optical tweezers, which we use to arrange atoms in desired geometric patterns and to maintain these configurations by replacing lost atoms with surplus atoms from a reservoir. This bottom-up approach may enable controlled engineering of scalable many-body systems for quantum information processing, quantum simulations, and precision measurements.

Quantum spin transistor with a Heisenberg spin chain

Spin chains are paradigmatic systems for the studies of quantum phases and phase transitions, and for quantum information applications, including quantum computation and short-distance quantum communication. Here we propose and analyse a scheme for conditional state transfer in a Heisenberg XXZ spin chain which realizes a quantum spin transistor. In our scheme, the absence or presence of a control spin excitation in the central gate part of the spin chain results in either perfect transfer of an arbitrary state of a target spin between the weakly coupled input and output ports, or its complete blockade at the input port. We also discuss a possible proof-of-concept realization of the corresponding spin chain with a one-dimensional ensemble of cold atoms with strong contact interactions. Our scheme is generally applicable to various implementations of tunable spin chains, and it paves the way for the realization of integrated quantum logic elements.

Systems of interacting quantum spins provide a basis for quantum computation devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a quantum spin transistor in a Heisenberg spin chain, which may be realized in a system of trapped cold atoms.

An interpolatory ansatz captures the physics of one-dimensional confined Fermi systems

Interacting one-dimensional quantum systems play a pivotal role in physics. Exact solutions can be obtained for the homogeneous case using the Bethe ansatz and bosonisation techniques. However, these approaches are not applicable when external confinement is present. Recent theoretical advances beyond the Bethe ansatz and bosonisation allow us to predict the behaviour of one-dimensional confined systems with strong short-range interactions, and new experiments with cold atomic Fermi gases have already confirmed these theories. Here we demonstrate that a simple linear combination of the strongly interacting solution with the well-known solution in the limit of vanishing interactions provides a simple and accurate description of the system for all values of the interaction strength. This indicates that one can indeed capture the physics of confined one-dimensional systems by knowledge of the limits using wave functions that are much easier to handle than the output of typical numerical approaches. We demonstrate our scheme for experimentally relevant systems with up to six particles. Moreover, we show that our method works also in the case of mixed systems of particles with different masses. This is an important feature because these systems are known to be non-integrable and thus not solvable by the Bethe ansatz technique.