Related papers: From optical lattices to quantum crystals

The structural symmetry of solids plays an important role in defining their linear and nonlinear optical properties. The quest for versatile, cost-effective, large-scale, and defect-free approaches and materials platforms for tailoring…

The ground state of dipolar bosons placed in an optical lattice is analyzed. We show that the modification of experimentally accessible parameters can lead to the realization and control of different quantum phases, including superfluid,…

We report on the observation of an interaction blockade effect for ultracold atoms in optical lattices, analogous to Coulomb blockade observed in mesoscopic solid state systems. When the lattice sites are converted into biased double wells,…

Ultracold gases in optical lattices are of great interest, because these systems bear a great potential for applications in quantum simulations and quantum information processing, in particular when using particles with a long-range…

Solid-state platforms are particularly attractive for quantum optics because they facilitate on-chip integration and are compatible with established semiconductor and photonic technologies. However, a major challenge in solid-state quantum…

Light enables manipulating many-body states of matter, and atoms trapped in optical lattices is a prominent example. However, quantum properties of light are completely neglected in all quantum gas experiments. Extending methods of quantum…

Fully internal and motional state controlled and individually manipulable polar molecules are desirable for many quantum science applications leveraging the rich state space and intrinsic interactions of molecules. While prior efforts at…

Coherent scattering of light from ultracold atoms involves an exchange of energy and momentum introducing a wealth of non-linear dynamical phenomena. As a prominent example particles can spontaneously form stationary periodic configurations…

We introduce a simple set--up corresponding to the matter-wave analogue of impurity atoms embedded in an infinite photonic crystal and interacting with the radiation field. Atoms in a given internal level are trapped in an optical lattice,…

In solid materials, nontrivial topological states, electron correlations, and magnetism are central ingredients for realizing quantum properties, including unconventional superconductivity, charge and spin density waves, and quantum spin…

Optical fields can induce forces between microscopic objects, thus giving rise to new structures of matter. We study theoretically these optical forces between two spheres, either isolated in water, or in presence of a flat dielectric…

Precise control of quantum particles is required for many interesting or novel experiments. Here we consider the task of transporting an atom using an external harmonic potential from one well of an optical lattice to another without…

In this article, we present an analysis of the stability of optical lattices. Starting with the study of an unstable optical lattice, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for intrinsic phase stability, and discuss two practical…

We propose and discuss `quantum spin lenses', where quantum states of delocalized spin excitations in an atomic medium are `focused' in space in a coherent quantum process down to (essentially) single atoms. These can be employed to create…

We study bosonic atoms in small optical lattices by exact diagonalization and observe a striking similarity to the superfluid to Mott insulator transition in macroscopic systems. The momentum distribution, the formation of an energy gap,…

We introduce a novel type of self-bound droplet which carries an emergent color charge. We consider a system of particles hopping on a lattice and interacting via a commensurately sign-changing potential which is attractive at a short…

Atom-field entanglement is shown to play a crucial role for the onset of spatial self-organization of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice within a high-Q cavity. Like particles on a seesaw, the atoms feel a different potential depending…

We propose an experimental realization of discrete quantum random walks using neutral atoms trapped in optical lattices. The random walk is taking place in position space and experimental implementation with present day technology --even…

Quantum process tomography is used to fully characterize the evolution of the quantum vibrational state of atoms. Rubidium atoms are trapped in a shallow optical lattice supporting only two vibrational states, which we charcterize by…

Optomechanical pattern forming instabilities in a cloud of cold atoms lead to self-organized spatial structures of light and atoms. Here, we consider the optomechanical self-structuring of a cold atomic cloud in the presence of a phase…