Diffusion Dynamics in Disordered Quantum Lattices Gases

利用量子现象作为下一代技术基础的一个关键挑战是理解强粒子间相互作用和无序的相互作用如何影响材料中的量子行为。强相互作用是一个重要的组成部分，以广泛的显着现象，如高温超导。由于材料的缺陷和与环境的接触，材料不可避免地会出现无序。然而，相互作用和无序如何竞争或合作以产生新的有用的量子态还没有完全理解。这个关键问题将通过使用超冷原子被困在由光形成的晶体中作为模型系统来研究。通过叠加由随机分布的亮区和暗区组成的激光，将施加受控的和精确已知的无序。将研究相互作用和无序对粒子流量子动力学的影响。从这项工作中获得的知识可能会导致更好地理解量子材料和提高其性能的新方法。下一代工程师和科学家将接受光学科学、射频电子学和先进计算机控制和信号方面的尖端技术培训。这个项目建立在以前的晶格实验，发现玻色子和费米量子淬火动力学和本地化使用Rb-87原子和K-40原子。将实施三个技术项目。将与一家初创公司合作开发一种对硬件和软件过时具有鲁棒性的现代计算机控制系统，将表征和部署一种高分辨率成像系统，并将实施一种隔离原子平面的方法。与紧密聚焦激光束驱动的受激拉曼跃迁一起，这些工具将用于研究超冷晶格气体中的扩散动力学。Rb-87原子的扩散常数的相互作用和无序的影响将被测量的超流，莫特绝缘体，玻色玻璃态。将向研究界提供一个用于生成和操纵超冷晶格气体以及支持外部设备的开放源码代码库。这些研究将推动无序量子气体的最新发展，从而为解决与凝聚态物理和材料科学相关的悬而未决的问题提供新的方法，并增强强相关量子科学的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A key challenge to leveraging quantum phenomena as a foundation of next-generation technologies is understanding how the interplay of strong inter-particle interactions and disorder affects quantum behavior in materials. Strong interactions are an important ingredient to a wide range of remarkable phenomena, such as high-temperature superconductivity. Disorder is inescapable in materials because of imperfections and contact with the environment. However, how interactions and disorder compete or cooperate to give rise to new and useful quantum states is not fully understood. This critical problem will be studied by using ultracold atoms trapped in a crystal formed from light as a model system. Controlled and precisely known disorder will be applied by superimposing laser light consisting of randomly distributed bright and dark regions. The influence of interactions and disorder on particle-flow quantum dynamics will be studied. Knowledge gained from this work may lead to a better understanding of quantum materials and new approaches to enhance their performance. The next generation of engineers and scientists will be trained on cutting-edge techniques in optical science, radio-frequency electronics, and advanced computer control and signaling. This project builds on previous lattice experiments that discovered bosonic and fermionic quantum quench dynamics and localization using Rb-87 atoms and K-40 atoms. Three technical projects will be pursued. A modern computer control system robust to hardware and software obsolescence will be developed in partnership with a startup company, a high-resolution imaging system will be characterized and deployed, and a method for isolating a plane of atoms will be implemented. Together with stimulated Raman transitions driven by tightly focused laser beams, these tools will be used to investigate diffusion dynamics in ultracold lattice gases. The impact of interactions and disorder on the diffusion constant for Rb-87 atoms will be measured for superfluid, Mott insulator, and Bose-glass states. An open-source repository of code for generating and manipulating ultracold lattice gases and to support external devices will be made available to the research community. These studies will advance the state-of-the-art in disordered quantum gases, thus enabling new methods for attacking outstanding questions related to condensed matter physics and materials science and enhancing knowledge of strongly correlated quantum science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.