Recent news

The UHV transfer system in the IMPACT setup is working! Watch the video.

Our work on "Double transfer through Dirac points in a tunable honeycomb optical lattice" (Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 217, 121-133 (2013)) is featured on the cover of the current issue of EPJ Special Topics.

The Lithium experiment was mentioned among the major breakthroughs in cold atoms research over the past year. Read more.

Recently published

Real-time observation of fluctuations at the driven-dissipative Dicke phase transition, arXiv:1304.4939

"Cold atoms in cavity-generated dynamical optical potentials" Rev. Mod. Phys. 85, 553-601 (2013)

Quantum magnetism of ultracold fermions in an optical lattice, arXiv:1212.2634, to appear in Science.

Superfluidity with disorder in a quantum gas thin film, arXiv:1211.7272

Observing the Drop of Resistance in the Flow of a Superfluid Fermi Gas, Nature 491, 736 (2012). See also News & Views and Nature News.

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Welcome to Prof. Tilman Esslinger's Quantum Optics Group

In our research we use ultracold atoms to synthetically create key models in quantum many-body physics. The properties of the trapped quantum gases are governed by the interplay between atomic motion and a well characterized interaction between the particles. This conceptual simplicity is unique in experimental physics and provides a direct link between the experiment and the model describing the system. It enables us to shine new light on a wide range of fundamental phenomena and address open challenges. We explore the physics of quantum phase transitions and crossovers, low-dimensional systems and non-equilibrium dynamics, and thereby establish the basis for quantum simulation of many-body Hamiltonians.

For example, by loading a quantum degenerate gas of potassium atoms into the periodic potential of an optical lattice we realize Hubbard models with atoms and access superfluid, metallic and Mott-insulating phases. A many-body system with infinitely long-range interactions is formed by trapping a Bose-Einstein condensate inside an optical cavity, which has allowed us to observe the Dicke quantum phase transition from a normal to a superradiant phase. A new tool to interrogate fermionic quantum gases is the microscopic view on local fluctuations of the trapped gas.

 

We acknowledge funding from SNF and ETH Zurich, NCCR QSIT, NCCR MaNEP and the European Union (ERC advanced grant SQMS, FET Open NAMEQUAM) and collaboration with qubig.