arXiv subjects

R. B. Hutson

Publications and source records attributed to R. B. Hutson.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

High-fidelity imaging of a band insulator in a three-dimensional optical lattice clock

We report on the observation of a high-density, band insulating state in a three-dimensional optical lattice clock. Filled with a nuclear-spin polarized degenerate Fermi gas of 87Sr, the 3D lattice has one atom per site in the ground motional state, thus guarding against frequency shifts due to contact interactions. At this high density where the average distance between atoms is comparable to the probe wavelength, standard imaging techniques suffer from large systematic errors. To spatially probe frequency shifts in the clock and measure thermodynamic properties of this system, accurate imaging techniques at high optical depths are required. Using a combination of highly saturated fluorescence and absorption imaging, we confirm the density distribution in our 3D optical lattice in agreement with a single spin band insulating state. Combining our clock platform with this high filling fraction opens the door to studying new classes of long-lived, many-body states arising from dipolar interactions.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2021

Dipole-dipole frequency shifts in multilevel atoms

Dipole-dipole interactions lead to frequency shifts that are expected to limit the performance of next-generation atomic clocks. In this work, we compute dipolar frequency shifts accounting for the intrinsic atomic multilevel structure in standard Ramsey spectroscopy. When interrogating the transitions featuring the smallest Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, we find that a simplified two-level treatment becomes inappropriate, even in the presence of large Zeeman shifts. For these cases, we show a net suppression of dipolar frequency shifts and the emergence of dominant non-classical effects for experimentally relevant parameters. Our findings are pertinent to current generations of optical lattice and optical tweezer clocks, opening a way to further increase their current accuracy, and thus their potential to probe fundamental and many-body physics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Optical clock intercomparison with $6\times 10^{-19}$ precision in one hour

Improvements in atom-light coherence are foundational to progress in quantum information science, quantum optics, and precision metrology. Optical atomic clocks require local oscillators with exceptional optical coherence due to the challenge of performing spectroscopy on their ultra-narrow linewidth clock transitions. Advances in laser stabilization have thus enabled rapid progress in clock precision. A new class of ultrastable lasers based on cryogenic silicon reference cavities has recently demonstrated the longest optical coherence times to date. In this work we utilize such a local oscillator, along with a state-of-the-art frequency comb for coherence transfer, with two Sr optical lattice clocks to achieve an unprecedented level of clock stability. Through an anti-synchronous comparison, the fractional instability of both clocks is assessed to be $4.8\times 10^{-17}/\sqrtτ$ for an averaging time $τ$ in seconds. Synchronous interrogation reveals a quantum projection noise dominated instability of $3.5(2)\times10^{-17}/\sqrtτ$, resulting in a precision of $5.8(3)\times 10^{-19}$ after a single hour of averaging. The ability to measure sub-$10^{-18}$ level frequency shifts in such short timescales will impact a wide range of applications for clocks in quantum sensing and fundamental physics. For example, this precision allows one to resolve the gravitational red shift from a 1 cm elevation change in only 20 minutes.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2018

Emergence of multi-body interactions in few-atom sites of a fermionic lattice clock

Alkaline-earth (AE) atoms have metastable clock states with minute-long optical lifetimes, high-spin nuclei, and SU($N$)-symmetric interactions that uniquely position them for advancing atomic clocks, quantum information processing, and quantum simulation. The interplay of precision measurement and quantum many-body physics is beginning to foster an exciting scientific frontier with many opportunities. Few particle systems provide a window to view the emergence of complex many-body phenomena arising from pairwise interactions. Here, we create arrays of isolated few-body systems in a fermionic ${}^{87}$Sr three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice clock and use high resolution clock spectroscopy to directly observe the onset of both elastic and inelastic multi-body interactions. These interactions cannot be broken down into sums over the underlying pairwise interactions. We measure particle-number-dependent frequency shifts of the clock transition for atom numbers $n$ ranging from 1 to 5, and observe nonlinear interaction shifts, which are characteristic of SU($N$)-symmetric elastic multi-body effects. To study inelastic multi-body effects, we use these frequency shifts to isolate $n$-occupied sites and measure the corresponding lifetimes. This allows us to access the short-range few-body physics free from systematic effects encountered in a bulk gas. These measurements, combined with theory, elucidate an emergence of multi-body effects in few-body systems of sites populated with ground-state atoms and those with single electronic excitations. By connecting these few-body systems through tunneling, the favorable energy and timescales of the interactions will allow our system to be utilized for studies of high-spin quantum magnetism and the Kondo effect.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

A Fermi-degenerate three-dimensional optical lattice clock

Strontium optical lattice clocks have the potential to simultaneously interrogate millions of atoms with a high spectroscopic quality factor of $4 \times 10^{-17}$. Previously, atomic interactions have forced a compromise between clock stability, which benefits from a large atom number, and accuracy, which suffers from density-dependent frequency shifts. Here, we demonstrate a scalable solution which takes advantage of the high, correlated density of a degenerate Fermi gas in a three-dimensional optical lattice to guard against on-site interaction shifts. We show that contact interactions are resolved so that their contribution to clock shifts is orders of magnitude lower than in previous experiments. A synchronous clock comparison between two regions of the 3D lattice yields a $5 \times 10^{-19}$ measurement precision in 1 hour of averaging time.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2015

Systematic evaluation of an atomic clock at 2e-18 total uncertainty

The pursuit of better atomic clocks has advanced many research areas, providing better quantum state control, new insights in quantum science, tighter limits on fundamental constant variation, and improved tests of relativity. The record for the best stability and accuracy is currently held by optical lattice clocks. This work takes an important step towards realizing the full potential of a many-particle clock with a state-of-the-art stable laser. Our 87Sr optical lattice clock now achieves fractional stability of 2.2e-16 at 1 s. With this improved stability, we perform a new accuracy evaluation of our clock, reducing many systematic uncertainties that limited our previous measurements, such as those in the lattice ac Stark shift, the atoms' thermal environment, and the atomic response to room-temperature BBR. Our combined measurements have reduced the total uncertainty of the JILA Sr clock to 2.1e-18 in fractional frequency units.

physics.atom-ph↗