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Title: Expansion of a Quantum Gas Released from an Optical Lattice

Abstract

We analyze the interference pattern produced by ultracold atoms released from an optical lattice, commonly interpreted as the momentum distributions of the trapped quantum gas. We show that for finite times of flight the resulting density distribution can, however, be significantly altered, similar to a near-field diffraction regime in optics. We illustrate our findings with a simple model and realistic quantum Monte Carlo simulations for bosonic atoms and compare the latter to experiments.

Authors:
 [1]; ; ; ;  [2];  [3];  [4]; ;  [5];  [6];  [7];  [6]
  1. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS, UPMC, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris (France)
  2. Institut fuer Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet, 55099 Mainz (Germany)
  3. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)
  4. Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, 53115 Bonn (Germany)
  5. Theoretische Physik, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland)
  6. Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 (United States)
  7. Theoretische Physik, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland) and Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21179803
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 101; Journal Issue: 15; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.155303; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ATOMS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; DIFFRACTION; LATTICE FIELD THEORY; MONTE CARLO METHOD; QUANTUM MECHANICS

Citation Formats

Gerbier, F, Trotzky, S, Schnorrberger, U, Thompson, J D, Bloch, I, Foelling, S, Widera, A, Pollet, L, Troyer, M, Capogrosso-Sansone, B, Prokof'ev, N V, Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow, Svistunov, B V, and Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow. Expansion of a Quantum Gas Released from an Optical Lattice. United States: N. p., 2008. Web. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.155303.
Gerbier, F, Trotzky, S, Schnorrberger, U, Thompson, J D, Bloch, I, Foelling, S, Widera, A, Pollet, L, Troyer, M, Capogrosso-Sansone, B, Prokof'ev, N V, Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow, Svistunov, B V, & Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow. Expansion of a Quantum Gas Released from an Optical Lattice. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.155303
Gerbier, F, Trotzky, S, Schnorrberger, U, Thompson, J D, Bloch, I, Foelling, S, Widera, A, Pollet, L, Troyer, M, Capogrosso-Sansone, B, Prokof'ev, N V, Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow, Svistunov, B V, and Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow. 2008. "Expansion of a Quantum Gas Released from an Optical Lattice". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.155303.
@article{osti_21179803,
title = {Expansion of a Quantum Gas Released from an Optical Lattice},
author = {Gerbier, F and Trotzky, S and Schnorrberger, U and Thompson, J D and Bloch, I and Foelling, S and Widera, A and Pollet, L and Troyer, M and Capogrosso-Sansone, B and Prokof'ev, N V and Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow and Svistunov, B V and Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute', 123182 Moscow},
abstractNote = {We analyze the interference pattern produced by ultracold atoms released from an optical lattice, commonly interpreted as the momentum distributions of the trapped quantum gas. We show that for finite times of flight the resulting density distribution can, however, be significantly altered, similar to a near-field diffraction regime in optics. We illustrate our findings with a simple model and realistic quantum Monte Carlo simulations for bosonic atoms and compare the latter to experiments.},
doi = {10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.155303},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21179803}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 15,
volume = 101,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2008},
month = {Fri Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2008}
}