Probing the Superfluid to Mott Insulator Transition at the Single Atom Level

Understand

Quantum gases in optical lattices offer an opportunity to experimentally realize and explore condensed matter models in a clean, tunable system.

• We investigate the Bose-Hubbard model on a microscopic level using single atom-single lattice site imaging; 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 timescales.
• 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.