Probing the superfluid-to-Mott insulator transition at the single-atom level.
Quantum gases in optical lattices offer an opportunity to experimentally realize and explore condensed matter models in a clean, tunable system. We used single atom-single lattice site imaging to investigate the Bose-Hubbard model on a microscopic level. Our technique enables space- and time-resolved characterization of the number statistics across the superfluid-Mott insulator quantum phase transition. Site-resolved probing of fluctuations provides us with a sensitive local thermometer, allows us to identify microscopic heterostructures of low-entropy Mott domains, and enables us to measure local quantum dynamics, revealing surprisingly fast transition time scales. Our results may serve as a benchmark for theoretical studies of quantum dynamics, and may guide the engineering of low-entropy phases in a lattice.
Bakr
W S
WS
Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Peng
A
A
Tai
M E
ME
Ma
R
R
Simon
J
J
Gillen
J I
JI
Fölling
S
S
Pollet
L
L
Greiner
M
M