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arXiv · 1212.6291

A quantum many-body spin system in an optical lattice clock

M. J. Martin·M. Bishof·M. D. Swallows·X. Zhang·C. Benko·J. von-Stecher·A. V. Gorshkov·A. M. Rey·Jun Ye
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Abstract

Strongly interacting quantum many-body systems are fundamentally compelling and ubiquitous in science. However, their complexity generally prevents exact solutions of their dynamics. Precisely engineered ultracold atomic gases are emerging as a powerful tool to unravel these challenging physical problems. Here we present a new laboratory for the study of many-body effects: strongly interacting two-level systems formed by the clock states in ${}^{87}$Sr, which are used to realize a neutral atom optical clock that performs at the highest level of optical-atomic coherence and with precision near the limit set by quantum fluctuations. Our measurements of the collective spin evolution reveal signatures of many-body dynamics, including beyond-mean-field effects. We derive a many-body Hamiltonian that describes the experimental observation of severely distorted lineshapes, atomic spin coherence decay, density-dependent frequency shifts, and correlated quantum spin noise. These investigations open the door to exploring quantum many-body effects and entanglement in quantum systems with optical energy splittings, using highly coherent and precisely controlled optical lattice clocks.

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M. J. Martin, M. Bishof, M. D. Swallows, X. Zhang, C. Benko, J. von-Stecher, A. V. Gorshkov, A. M. Rey, Jun Ye. 2012-12-27. A quantum many-body spin system in an optical lattice clock. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1236929

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