Quantum Simulation of Antiferromagnetic Spin Chains in an Optical Lattice

Quantum Simulation of Antiferromagnetic Spin Chains in an Optical Lattice

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Quantum Simulation of Antiferromagnetic Spin Chains in an Optical Lattice

dc.contributor.author	Simon, Jonathan
dc.contributor.author	Ma, Ruichao
dc.contributor.author	Tai, Ming Eric
dc.contributor.author	Preiss, Philipp Moritz
dc.contributor.author	Greiner, Markus
dc.contributor.author	Bakr, Waseem S.
dc.date.accessioned	2012-01-20T02:21:13Z
dc.date.issued	2011
dc.identifier.citation	Simon, Jonathan, Waseem S. Bakr, Ruichao Ma, M. Eric Tai, Philipp M. Preiss, and Markus Greiner. 2011. Quantum simulation of antiferromagnetic spin chains in an optical lattice. Nature 472(7343): 307-312.	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1476-4687	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0028-0836	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:7983350
dc.description.abstract	Understanding exotic forms of magnetism in quantum mechanical systems is a central goal of modern condensed matter physics, with implications for systems ranging from high-temperature superconductors to spintronic devices. Simulating magnetic materials in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition is computationally intractable on classical computers, owing to the extreme complexity arising from quantum entanglement between the constituent magnetic spins. Here we use a degenerate Bose gas of rubidium atoms confined in an optical lattice to simulate a chain of interacting quantum Ising spins as they undergo a phase transition. Strong spin interactions are achieved through a site-occupation to pseudo-spin mapping. As we vary a magnetic field, quantum fluctuations drive a phase transition from a paramagnetic phase into an antiferromagnetic phase. In the paramagnetic phase, the interaction between the spins is overwhelmed by the applied field, which aligns the spins. In the antiferromagnetic phase, the interaction dominates and produces staggered magnetic ordering. Magnetic domain formation is observed through both in situ site-resolved imaging and noise correlation measurements. By demonstrating a route to quantum magnetism in an optical lattice, this work should facilitate further investigations of magnetic models using ultracold atoms, thereby improving our understanding of real magnetic materials.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Physics	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.publisher	Nature Publishing Group	en_US
dc.relation.isversionof	doi://10.1038/nature09994	en_US
dc.relation.hasversion	http://arxiv.org/abs/1103.1372	en_US
dash.license	OAP
dc.subject	physics	en_US
dc.subject	quantum gases	en_US
dc.subject	quantum physics	en_US
dc.title	Quantum Simulation of Antiferromagnetic Spin Chains in an Optical Lattice	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article	en_US
dc.description.version	Author's Original	en_US
dc.relation.journal	Nature	en_US
dash.depositing.author	Greiner, Markus
dc.date.available	2012-01-20T02:21:13Z