title: Probing the superfluid-to-Mott insulator transition at the single-atom level.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Bakr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Gillen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fölling
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pollet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Greiner