Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 59: Quantum gases: Optical lattices III
Q 59.2: Talk
Friday, March 22, 2013, 11:15–11:30, F 342
Quantum dynamics of a single, mobile spin impurity — •Takeshi Fukuhara1, Adrian Kantian2, Manuel Endres1, Marc Cheneau1, Peter Schauß1, Sebastian Hild1, David Bellem1, Ulrich Schollwöck3, Thierry Giamarchi2, Christian Gross1, Immanuel Bloch1,3, and Stefan Kuhr4 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching, Germany — 2DPMC-MaNEP, University of Geneva, 24 Quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland — 3Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 München, Germany — 4University of Strathclyde, Department of Physics, SUPA, Glasgow G4 0NG, United Kingdom
Quantum magnetism plays an important role in many materials such as transition metal oxides and cuprate superconductors. One of its elementary processes is the propagation of spin excitations. Here we study the quantum dynamics of a deterministically created spin-impurity atom, as it propagates in a one-dimensional lattice system. We probe the full spatial probability distribution of the impurity at different times using single-site-resolved imaging of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. In the Mott-insulating regime, a post-selection of the data allows to reduce the effect of temperature, giving access to a space- and time-resolved measurement of the quantum-coherent propagation of a magnetic excitation in the Heisenberg model. Extending the study to the bath's superfluid regime, we determine quantitatively how the bath affects the motion of the impurity, showing evidence of polaronic behaviour.