arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F. Schreck.
The proposed mission "Space Atomic Gravity Explorer" (SAGE) has the scientific objective to investigate gravitational waves, dark matter, and other fundamental aspects of gravity as well as the connection between gravitational physics and quantum physics using new quantum sensors, namely, optical atomic clocks and atom interferometers based on ultracold strontium atoms.
One of the challenging goals in the studies of many-body physics with ultracold atoms is the creation of a topological $p_{x} + ip_{y}$ superfluid for identical fermions in two dimensions (2D). The expectations of reaching the critical temperature $T_c$ through p-wave Feshbach resonance in spin-polarized fermionic gases have soon faded away because on approaching the resonance, the system becomes unstable due to inelastic-collision processes. Here, we consider an alternative scenario in which a single-component degenerate gas of fermions in 2D is paired via phonon-mediated interactions provided by a 3D BEC background. Within the weak-coupling regime, we calculate the critical temperature $T_c$ for the fermionic pair formation, using Bethe-Salpeter formalism, and show that it is significantly boosted by higher-order diagramatic terms, such as phonon dressing and vertex corrections. We describe in detail an experimental scheme to implement our proposal, and show that the long-sought p-wave superfluid is at reach with state-of-the-art experiments.
We present a frequency-shifted feedback (FSF) laser based on a tapered amplifier. The laser operates as a coherent broadband source with up to 370GHz spectral width and 2.3us coherence time. If the FSF laser is seeded by a continuous-wave laser a frequency comb spanning the output spectrum appears in addition to the broadband emission. The laser has an output power of 280mW and a center wavelength of 780nm. The ease and flexibility of use of tapered amplifiers makes our FSF laser attractive for a wide range of applications, especially in metrology.
We study a one-dimensional two-component atomic Fermi gas with an infinite intercomponent contact repulsion. It is found that adding an attractive resonant odd-wave interaction breaking the rotational symmetry one can make the ground state ferromagnetic. A promising system for the observation of this itinerant ferromagnetic state is a 1D gas of $^{40}$K atoms, where 3D $s$-wave and $p$-wave Feshbach resonances are very close to each other and the 1D confinement significantly reduces the inelastic decay.
Alkaline-earth-metal atoms exhibit long-range dipolar interactions, which are generated via the coherent exchange of photons on the 3P_0-3D_1-transition of the triplet manifold. In case of bosonic strontium, which we discuss here, this transition has a wavelength of 2.7 μm and a dipole moment of 2.46 Debye, and there exists a magic wavelength permitting the creation of optical lattices that are identical for the states 3P_0 and 3D_1. This interaction enables the realization and study of mixtures of hard-core lattice bosons featuring long-range hopping, with tuneable disorder and anisotropy. We derive the many-body Master equation, investigate the dynamics of excitation transport and analyze spectroscopic signatures stemming from coherent long-range interactions and collective dissipation. Our results show that lattice gases of alkaline-earth-metal atoms permit the creation of long-lived collective atomic states and constitute a simple and versatile platform for the exploration of many-body systems with long-range interactions. As such, they represent an alternative to current related efforts employing Rydberg gases, atoms with large magnetic moment, or polar molecules.
We report on the expansion of a Fermi-Fermi mixture of Li-6 and K-40 atoms under conditions of strong interactions realized near the center of an interspecies Feshbach resonance. We observe two different phenomena of hydrodynamic behavior. The first one is the well-known inversion of the aspect ratio. The second one is a collective expansion, where both species stick together and despite of their different masses expand jointly. Our work constitutes a first step to explore the intriguing many-body physics of this novel system.
We present a detailed theoretical and experimental study of Feshbach resonances in the 6Li-40K mixture. Particular attention is given to the inelastic scattering properties, which have not been considered before. As an important example, we thoroughly investigate both elastic and inelastic scattering properties of a resonance that occurs near 155 G. Our theoretical predictions based on a coupled channels calculation are found in excellent agreement with the experimental results. We also present theoretical results on the molecular state that underlies the 155G resonance, in particular concerning its lifetime against spontaneous dissociation. We then present a survey of resonances in the system, fully characterizing the corresponding elastic and inelastic scattering properties. This provides the essential information to identify optimum resonances for applications relying on interaction control in this Fermi-Fermi mixture.
We present the essential experimental steps of our all-optical approach to prepare a double-degenerate Fermi-Fermi mixture of 6Li and 40K atoms, which then serves as a starting point for molecule formation. We first describe the optimized trap loading procedures, the internal-state preparation of the sample, and the combined evaporative and sympathetic cooling process. We then discuss the preparation of the sample near an interspecies Feshbach resonance, and we demonstrate the formation of heteronuclear molecules by a magnetic field ramp across the resonance.
We investigate the collisional stability of a sample of 40K atoms immersed in a tunable spin mixture of 6Li atoms. In this three-component Fermi-Fermi mixture, we find very low loss rates in a wide range of interactions as long as molecule formation of 6Li is avoided. The stable fermionic mixture with two resonantly interacting spin states of one species together with another species is a promising system for a broad variety of phenomena in few- and many-body quantum physics.
We report on the observation of Feshbach resonances in an ultracold mixture of two fermionic species, 6Li and 40K. The experimental data are interpreted using a simple asymptotic bound state model and full coupled channels calculations. This unambiguously assigns the observed resonances in terms of various s- and p-wave molecular states and fully characterizes the ground-state scattering properties in any combination of spin states.
We report the direct observation of sub-Poissonian number fluctuation for a degenerate Bose gas confined in an optical trap. Reduction of number fluctuations below the Poissonian limit is observed for average numbers that range from 300 to 60 atoms.
Bose-Einstein condensates have been produced in an optical box trap. This novel optical trap type has strong confinement in two directions comparable to that which is possible in an optical lattice, yet produces individual condensates rather than the thousands typical of a lattice. The box trap is integrated with single atom detection capability, paving the way for studies of quantum atom statistics.
We present an experimental method to create a single high frequency optical trap for atoms based on an elongated Hermite-Gaussian TEM01 mode beam. This trap results in confinement strength similar to that which may be obtained in an optical lattice. We discuss an optical setup to produce the trapping beam and then detail a method to load a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) into a TEM01 trap. Using this method, we have succeeded in producing individual highly confined lower dimensional condensates.
We report the production of matter-wave solitons in an ultracold lithium 7 gas. The effective interaction between atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is tuned with a Feshbach resonance from repulsive to attractive before release in a one-dimensional optical waveguide. Propagation of the soliton without dispersion over a macroscopic distance of 1.1 mm is observed. A simple theoretical model explains the stability region of the soliton. These matter-wave solitons open fascinating possibilities for future applications in coherent atom optics, atom interferometry and atom transport.
We report the observation of co-existing Bose-Einstein condensate and Fermi gas in a magnetic trap. With a very small fraction of thermal atoms, the 7Li condensate is quasi-pure and in thermal contact with a 6Li Fermi gas. The lowest common temperature is 0.28 muK = 0.2(1) T_C = 0.2(1) T_F where T_C is the BEC critical temperature and T_F the Fermi temperature. Behaving as an ideal gas in the radial trap dimension, the condensate is one-dimensional.
Sympathetic cooling of two atomic isotopes is experimentally investigated. Using forced evaporation of a bosonic 7Li gas in a magnetic trap, a sample of 3 10^5 6Li fermions has been sympathetically cooled to 9(3)muK, corresponding to 2.2(0.8) times the Fermi temperature. The measured rate constant for 2-body inelastic collisions of 7Li |2,2> state at low magnetic field is 1.0^{+0.8}_{-0.5} 10^-14 cm^3s^-1.