Quantum degenerate Fermi and Bose gases in microscopic traps

微观陷阱中的量子简并费米和玻色气体

• 批准号: 261566-2006
• 负责人: Thywissen, Joseph
• 金额: $ 3.6万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2008-01-01 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=395096
• 关键词: Quantum; degenerate; Fermi; Bose; gases

The implications of quantum mechanics continue to challenge our understanding of the world. In 2001, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in recognition of the first observation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a dilute gas. A BEC experiment uses laser light to cool and trap gases of neutral atoms. Laser-cooled atoms are then loaded into a magnetic trap, where they are compressed and further cooled. Finally, at some of the lowest temperatures achievable in a laboratory, the gas becomes quantum degenerate. Ultracold atom experiments capture the imagination of scientists and non-scientists alike, because we can see the quantum world with an ordinary camera. Degenerate gases can act as simulators of technologically relevant materials such as high-temperature superconductors. Eventually the many-body physics we learn with cold atoms may address open questions about these quantum materials. In our lab, we  trap two species (Rubidium 87, a boson, and Potassium 40, a fermion) with a microscopic "chip" trap. We use the Bose gas as a quantum "ice cube" to cool the Fermi gas. The strong confinement created in the chip trap leads to sympathetic cooling rates approximately ten times faster than typical experiments with Fermi gases. We have also shown that the same strong confinement leads to one of the highest efficiency evaporative cooling paths to Bose-Einstein condensation. Over the next five years, we plan to study the many-body physics of these quantum gases, including light scattering properties of cold fermions, non-harmonic traps, and the physics of Bose-Fermi mixtures.

量子力学的影响继续挑战着我们对世界的理解。2001年，诺贝尔物理学奖授予了第一个在稀气体中观察到玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚（BEC）的人。BEC实验使用激光来冷却和捕获中性原子的气体。然后，激光冷却的原子被装入磁阱，在那里它们被压缩并进一步冷却。最后，在实验室可达到的最低温度下，气体变得量子简并。超冷原子实验激发了科学家和非科学家的想象力，因为我们可以用普通相机看到量子世界。简并气体可以作为高温超导体等技术相关材料的模拟物。最终，我们用冷原子学习的多体物理学可能会解决有关这些量子材料的公开问题。在我们的实验室里，我们用一个显微镜下的“芯片”陷阱捕获了两种物质（铷87，一种玻色子，钾40，一种费米子）。我们使用玻色气体作为量子“冰块”来冷却费米气体。在芯片阱中产生的强约束导致共振冷却速率比费米气体的典型实验快大约十倍。我们还表明，相同的强约束导致最高效率的蒸发冷却路径之一，玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚。在接下来的五年里，我们计划研究这些量子气体的多体物理，包括冷费米子的光散射特性，非谐波陷阱和玻色-费米混合物的物理。