arXiv · 2005.03929
Observation of Pauli Crystals
Abstract
The Pauli exclusion principle is a fundamental law underpinning the structure of matter. Due to their anti-symmetric wave function, no two fermions can occupy the same quantum state. Here, we report on the direct observation of the Pauli principle in a continuous system of up to six particles in the ground state of a two-dimensional harmonic oscillator. To this end, we sample the full many-body wavefunction by applying a single atom resolved imaging scheme in momentum space. We find so-called Pauli crystals as a manifestation of higher order correlations. In contrast to true crystalline phases, these unique high-order density correlations emerge even without any interactions present. Our work lays the foundation for future studies of correlations in strongly interacting systems of many fermions.
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Marvin Holten, Luca Bayha, Keerthan Subramanian, Carl Heintze, Philipp M. Preiss, Selim Jochim. 2020-05-08. Observation of Pauli Crystals. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.020401
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