Ultra-cold atoms: understanding advanced materials with iconic condensed matter

超冷原子：了解具有标志性凝聚态物质的先进材料

• 批准号: 261566-2011
• 负责人: Thywissen, Joseph
• 金额: $ 3.5万
• 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: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=571082
• 关键词: Ultra; cold; atoms; understanding; advanced

At the coldest temperatures in the universe, even dilute gases are dominated by quantum mechanics. These fragile gases are in fact quite useful. Like stem cells, ultracold atoms can take on properties dictated by their environment: they can be liquids, solids, or gases; they can be magnetic, insulating, or superconducting. By observing the correlation between system behavior and system parameters, we can learn why materials act as they do. We propose to explore two directions with ultracold atoms. First, we would like to understand the minimal set of conditions for ferromagnetism. What are the essential ingredients? Magnetism has been observed - and even applied in compasses, for instance - for millennia. However a question that has been debated since the 1930s is whether a gas can be magnetic. Nature does not provide us with examples, but ultracold atoms can be tuned to extremely strong interactions. We already have some hints about the answer to this age-old question, but our first results left open several loopholes. Stay tuned for exciting news. Second, we will place our ultracold atoms into a crystalline environment which mimics the basic geometry of cuprate superconductors. Exotic materials such as cuprates pose some of the most important open questions in physics. Theorists have proposed models to explain their properties, but this is a difficult problem: even reduced models have proven difficult to solve. Ultra-cold atoms offer a new hope in our quest to understand exotic materials. By testing the basic theoretical models of superconductivity in a simpler system, we hope to be one step closer to understanding the advanced materials that are so critical to modern technologies.

在宇宙中最冷的温度下，即使是稀释的气体也受量子力学的支配。这些脆弱的气体实际上非常有用。像干细胞一样，超冷原子可以呈现出由其环境决定的性质：它们可以是液体、固体或气体;它们可以是磁性的、绝缘的或超导的。通过观察系统行为和系统参数之间的相关性，我们可以了解材料为什么会这样做。 我们建议探索两个方向与超冷原子。首先，我们想了解铁磁性的最小条件集。什么是基本的成分？人们已经观察到磁性--甚至将其应用于指南针，例如--几千年了。然而，自20世纪30年代以来一直在争论的一个问题是气体是否具有磁性。自然界并没有给我们提供这样的例子，但超冷原子可以被调整到极强的相互作用。对于这个古老问题的答案，我们已经有了一些线索，但我们的第一个结果留下了一些漏洞。敬请期待激动人心的消息。 第二，我们将把超冷原子放入一个晶体环境中，模拟铜氧化物超导体的基本几何形状。像铜氧化物这样的奇特材料提出了一些物理学中最重要的悬而未决的问题。理论家已经提出了模型来解释它们的性质，但这是一个困难的问题：即使是简化的模型也被证明难以解决。超冷原子为我们理解奇异物质提供了新的希望。通过在一个更简单的系统中测试超导性的基本理论模型，我们希望更接近理解对现代技术至关重要的先进材料。