Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 40: Poster: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC

A 40.25: Poster

Thursday, March 15, 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.V

Towards stable groundstate NaK molecules — •Zhenkai Lu, Nikolaus Buchheim, Ingo Laut, Tobias Schneider, Christoph Gohle, and Immanuel Bloch — Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching

Ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices are bench mark systems for strongly interacting manybody physics [1]. Conventional alkali atomic systems at ultra low temperatures exhibit interaction potentials that have essentially zero range. Therefore the associated Hamiltonians are limited to on site interaction. If long range interaction can be achieved, many intriguing effects and new quantum phases will be accessible. This includes real space long range (crystalline) order for bulk systems, supersolids or fractional mott insulators in optical lattices, to mention a few.

Promising candidates for ultra cold particles with long range (anisotropic) interaction include Rydberg atoms as well as photoassociated ground state polar diatomic molecules.

We are setting up an experiment to create ultracold NaK molecules. In this system instability, due to inelastic two body collisions known from pioneering experiments [2] does not exist and chances are good to reach far into the interesting parameter space.

[1] Bloch, I., Dalibard, J., & Zwerger, W. Many-body physics with ultracold gases. Reviews Of Modern Physics, 80, 885*964 (2008).

[2] Ni, K.-K., Ospelkaus, S., et al. A high phase-space-density gas of polar molecules. Science, 322, 231-5 (2008).