Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Science. 2010 Jul 30;329(5991):547-50. doi: 10.1126/science.1192368. Epub 2010 Jun 17.
Quantum gases in optical lattices offer an opportunity to experimentally realize and explore condensed matter models in a clean, tunable system. We used single atom-single lattice site imaging to investigate the Bose-Hubbard model on a microscopic level. Our technique enables space- and time-resolved characterization of the number statistics across the superfluid-Mott insulator quantum phase transition. Site-resolved probing of fluctuations provides us with a sensitive local thermometer, allows us to identify microscopic heterostructures of low-entropy Mott domains, and enables us to measure local quantum dynamics, revealing surprisingly fast transition time scales. Our results may serve as a benchmark for theoretical studies of quantum dynamics, and may guide the engineering of low-entropy phases in a lattice.
光学晶格中的量子气体为在一个干净、可调谐的系统中实验实现和探索凝聚态物质模型提供了机会。我们使用单原子-单晶格点成像技术在微观层面上研究玻色-哈伯德模型。我们的技术能够对超导-莫特绝缘量子相变过程中的数统计算子进行时空分辨的特性描述。对涨落的点探测为我们提供了一个灵敏的局部温度计，使我们能够识别低熵莫特域的微观异质结构，并使我们能够测量局部量子动力学，揭示出令人惊讶的快速转变时间尺度。我们的结果可以作为量子动力学理论研究的基准，并可能指导晶格中低熵相的工程设计。
