arXiv subjects

A. Zenesini

Publications and source records attributed to A. Zenesini.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Manipulation of an elongated internal Josephson junction of bosonic atoms

We report on the experimental characterization of a spatially extended Josephson junction realized with a coherently-coupled two-spin-component Bose-Einstein condensate. The cloud is trapped in an elongated potential such that that transverse spin excitations are frozen. We extract the non-linear parameter with three different manipulation protocols. The outcomes are all consistent with a simple local density approximation of the spin hydrodynamics, i.e., of the so-called Bose-Josephson junction equations. We also identify a method to produce states with a well defined uniform magnetization.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Probing photoinduced two-body loss of ultracold non-reactive bosonic $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na$^{39}$K molecules

We probe photo-induced loss for chemically stable bosonic $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na$^{39}$K molecules in chopped optical dipole traps where the molecules spend a significant time in the dark. We expect the effective two-body decay to be largely suppressed in chopped traps due to the small expected complex lifetimes of about $13μ$s and $6μ$s for $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na$^{39}$K respectively. However, instead we do observe near-universal loss even at the lowest chopping frequencies we can probe. Our data thus either suggest a so far unknown loss mechanism or a drastic underestimation of the complex lifetime by at least one to two orders of magnitude.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2016

Versatile electric fields for the manipulation of ultracold NaK molecules

In this paper, we present an electrode geometry for the manipulation of ultracold rovibrational ground state NaK molecules. The electrode system allows to induce a dipole moment in trapped diatomic NaK molecules with a magnitude up to $68 \%$ of their internal dipole moment along any direction in a given two-dimensional plane. The strength, the sign and the direction of the induced dipole moment is therefore fully tunable. Furthermore, the possibility to create strong electric field gradients provides the opportunity to address molecules in single layers of an optical lattice. The maximal relative variation of the electric field over the trapping volume is below $10^{-6}$. At the desired electric field value of 10 kV/cm this corresponds to a deviation of 0.01 V/cm. The electrode structure is made of transparent indium tin oxide and combines large optical access for sophisticated optical dipole traps and optical lattice configurations with the possibility to create versatile electric field configurations.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Resonant Five-body Recombination in an Ultracold Gas of Bosonic Atoms

We combine theory and experiment to investigate five-body recombination in an ultracold gas of atomic cesium at negative scattering length. A refined theoretical model, in combination with extensive laboratory tunability of the interatomic interactions, enables the five-body resonant recombination rate to be calculated and measured. The position of the new observed recombination feature agrees with a recent theoretical prediction and supports the prediction of a family of universal cluster states at negative $a$ that are tied to an Efimov trimer.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Efimov Resonances in Ultracold Quantum Gases

Ultracold atomic gases have developed into prime systems for experimental studies of Efimov three-body physics and related few-body phenomena, which occur in the universal regime of resonant interactions. In the last few years, many important breakthroughs have been achieved, confirming basic predictions of universal few-body theory and deepening our understanding of such systems. We review the basic ideas along with the fast experimental developments of the field, focussing on ultracold cesium gases as a well-investigated model system. Triatomic Efimov resonances, atom-dimer Efimov resonances, and related four-body resonances are discussed as central observables. We also present some new observations of such resonances, supporting and complementing the set of available data.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Universality of the Three-Body Parameter for Efimov States in Ultracold Cesium

We report on the observation of triatomic Efimov resonances in an ultracold gas of cesium atoms. Exploiting the wide tunability of interactions resulting from three broad Feshbach resonances in the same spin channel, we measure magnetic-field dependent three-body recombination loss. The positions of the loss resonances yield corresponding values for the three-body parameter, which in universal few-body physics is required to describe three-body phenomena and in particular to fix the spectrum of Efimov states. Our observations show a robust universal behavior with a three-body parameter that stays essentially constant.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Observation of Stückelberg oscillations in accelerated optical lattices

We report the experimental observation of Stückelberg oscillations of matter waves in optical lattices. Extending previous work on Landau-Zener tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, we study the effects of the accumulated phase between two successive crossings of the Brillouin zone edge. Our results agree well with a simple model for multiple Landau-Zener tunneling events taking into account the band structure of the optical lattice.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Time-resolved measurement of Landau--Zener tunneling in different bases

A comprehensive study of the tunneling dynamics of a Bose--Einstein condensate in a tilted periodic potential is presented. We report numerical and experimental results on time-resolved measurements of the Landau--Zener tunneling of ultracold atoms introduced by the tilt, which experimentally is realized by accelerating the lattice. The use of different protocols enables us to access the tunneling probability, numerically as well as experimentally, in two different bases, namely, the adiabatic basis and the diabatic basis. The adiabatic basis corresponds to the eigenstates of the lattice, and the diabatic one to the free-particle momentum eigenstates. Our numerical and experimental results are compared with existing two-state Landau--Zener models.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Tunneling control and localization for Bose-Einstein condensates in a frequency modulated optical lattice

The similarity between matter waves in periodic potential and solid-state physics processes has triggered the interest in quantum simulation using Bose-Fermi ultracold gases in optical lattices. The present work evidences the similarity between electrons moving under the application of oscillating electromagnetic fields and matter waves experiencing an optical lattice modulated by a frequency difference, equivalent to a spatially shaken periodic potential. We demonstrate that the tunneling properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in shaken periodic potentials can be precisely controlled. We take additional crucial steps towards future applications of this method by proving that the strong shaking of the optical lattice preserves the coherence of the matter wavefunction and that the shaking parameters can be changed adiabatically, even in the presence of interactions. We induce reversibly the quantum phase transition to the Mott insulator in a driven periodic potential.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Time-resolved measurement of Landau-Zener tunneling in periodic potentials

We report time-resolved measurements of Landau-Zener tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in accelerated optical lattices, clearly resolving the step-like time dependence of the band populations. Using different experimental protocols we were able to measure the tunneling probability both in the adiabatic and in the diabatic bases of the system. We also experimentally determine the contribution of the momentum width of the Bose condensates to the width of the tunneling steps and discuss the implications for measuring the jump time in the Landau-Zener problem.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2008

Trap modulation spectroscopy of the Mott-insulator transition in optical lattices

We introduce a new technique to probe the properties of an interacting cold atomic gas that can be viewed as a dynamical compressibility measurement. We apply this technique to the study of the superfluid to Mott insulator quantum phase transition in one and three dimensions for a bosonic gas trapped in an optical lattice. Excitations of the system are detected by time-of-flight measurements. The experimental data for the one-dimensional case are in good agreement with the results of a time-dependent density matrix renormalization group calculation.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Observation of photon-assisted tunneling in optical lattices

We have observed tunneling suppression and photon-assisted tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical lattice subjected to a constant force plus a sinusoidal shaking. For a sufficiently large constant force, the ground energy levels of the lattice are shifted out of resonance and tunneling is suppressed; when the shaking is switched on, the levels are coupled by low-frequency photons and tunneling resumes. Our results agree well with theoretical predictions and demonstrate the usefulness of optical lattices for studying solid-state phenomena.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2007

Dynamical control of matter-wave tunneling in periodic potentials

We report on measurements of dynamical suppression of inter-well tunneling of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a strongly driven optical lattice. The strong driving is a sinusoidal shaking of the lattice corresponding to a time-varying linear potential, and the tunneling is measured by letting the BEC freely expand in the lattice. The measured tunneling rate is reduced and, for certain values of the shaking parameter, completely suppressed. Our results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. Furthermore, we have verified that in general the strong shaking does not destroy the phase coherence of the BEC, opening up the possibility of realizing quantum phase transitions by using the shaking strength as the control parameter.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Resonantly enhanced tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in periodic potentials

We report on measurements of resonantly enhanced tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates loaded into an optical lattice. By controlling the initial conditions of our system we were able to observe resonant tunneling in the ground and the first two excited states of the lattice wells. We also investigated the effect of the intrinsic nonlinearity of the condensate on the tunneling resonances.

cond-mat.other↗