Hannover 2013 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 29: Poster: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC (with Q)

A 29.13: Poster

Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 16:00–18:30, Empore Lichthof

An ultracold ytterbium quantum gas for lattice many-body physics — •C. Hofrichter, P. C. De Groot, F. Scazza, M. Höfer, C. Schweizer, E. Davis, I. Bloch, and S. Fölling — MPI für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Schellingstrasse 4, 80799 München, Germany

Alkaline-earth-type atoms (AEA) like ytterbium differ in their internal structure from the more widely used alkali atomic species. Their electronic structure is responsible for specific properties that can be exploited in the field of quantum simulation with ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

AEAs possess a metastable excited state useful for implementing state-dependent optical potentials necessary for certain novel types of many-body Hamiltonians. In addition, the high nuclear spin of fermionic isotopes gives rise to an enlarged SU(N) symmetry of the hamiltonian. A significant theoretical effort has been already committed to the understanding of the physics of systems that could be realized with an ytterbium quantum gas trapped in an optical lattice, such as the Kondo lattice model or higher-symmetry Heisenberg models.

We present our setup for the production of an Yb degenerate gas of bosonic or fermionic atoms with control over nuclear and electronic spin state populations in a 3D optical lattice.