Novel Phases of Confined Cold Atomic Gases

多年来，冷原子物理实验一直致力于探测和研究物质的相关相，类似于凝聚态系统中的相。为了发展未来的技术和更好地理解自然，在最小的尺度上识别和控制物质和光的行为是必不可少的。在这个量子领域，原子的集体性质往往是违反直觉的，就像最近的实验所看到的那样，这些实验研究了原子在超低温下的气体，这些气体受到由光组成的精密可控陷阱的限制。这项理论工作将为囚禁冷原子气体的物质可能的集体态发展新的预测，这将有助于揭示诸如超流和磁性等有趣的新兴现象。国际和平研究所在培训本科生和研究生方面有着很强的历史，特别是那些来自传统上代表性较低的群体的学生，他们在相关冷原子气体令人兴奋的领域进行培训。路易斯安那州立大学的理论研究团队将研究最令人兴奋的最新实验发展的影响，包括实现具有“盒子”形状的新型囚禁势，而不是早期冷原子实验中缓慢变化的谐波势。这些类似于纳米电子材料的盒状陷阱允许研究限制和几何对集体量子性质的影响，如超流。该团队还将研究原子在实现Kagome和Lieb晶格的光学势中的行为。原子在这种晶格中的运动表现出受挫现象，竞争效应可能导致物质的不寻常相。该团队的第三个研究方向涉及Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev模型的冷原子实现的可能性，该模型将费米子的非费米液体行为与黑洞的物理联系起来。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

For many years, cold atomic physics experiments have pursued the detection and study of correlated phases of matter, analogous to those in condensed matter systems. To develop future technology and better understand nature, it is essential to discern and control the behavior of matter and light on the smallest length scales. In this quantum realm, the collective properties of atoms are often counterintuitive, as seen in recent experiments that have studied gases of atoms at ultracold temperatures, confined by exquisitely controllable traps made of light. This theoretical work will develop new predictions for the possible collective states of matter of trapped cold atomic gases, which can shed light on interesting emergent phenomena such as superfluidity and magnetism. The PI has a strong history of training undergraduate and graduate students, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups, in the exciting field of correlated cold atomic gases. The proposed work continues this research training and also includes concrete ideas for improving undergraduate education at LSU.The theoretical research team at LSU will study the implications of the most exciting recent experimental developments, including the realization of novel trapping potentials that have the form of a "box" shape, instead of the slowly varying harmonic potential in earlier cold atom experiments. These box-shaped traps, which are analogous to nanoscale electronic materials, allow the study of the effect of confinement and geometry on collective quantum properties such as superfluidity. The team will also study the behavior of atoms in optical potentials that realize the Kagome and Lieb lattices. Atom motion in such lattices exhibits the phenomenon of frustration, where competing effects can lead to unusual phases of matter. A third research direction for the team concerns the possibility of a cold-atom realization of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model, which connects non-Fermi liquid behavior of fermions to the physics of black holes.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.