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arXiv · 1105.2014

p-Wave cold collisions in an optical lattice clock

N. D. Lemke·J. von Stecher·J. A. Sherman·A. M. Rey·C. W. Oates·A. D. Ludlow
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Abstract

We study ultracold collisions in fermionic ytterbium by precisely measuring the energy shifts they impart on the atom's internal clock states. Exploiting Fermi statistics, we uncover p-wave collisions, in both weakly and strongly interacting regimes. With the higher density afforded by two-dimensional lattice confinement, we demonstrate that strong interactions can lead to a novel suppression of this collision shift. In addition to reducing the systematic errors of lattice clocks, this work has application to quantum information and quantum simulation with alkaline-earth atoms.

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N. D. Lemke, J. von Stecher, J. A. Sherman, A. M. Rey, C. W. Oates, A. D. Ludlow. 2011-06-22. p-Wave cold collisions in an optical lattice clock. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.107.103902

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