Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system, and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum-statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems which can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles.

Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms

Feshbach resonances are the essential tool to control the interaction between atoms in ultracold quantum gases. They have found numerous experimental applications, opening up the way to important breakthroughs. This review broadly covers the phenomenon of Feshbach resonances in ultracold gases and their main applications. This includes the theoretical background and models for the description of Feshbach resonances, the experimental methods to find and characterize the resonances, a discussion of the main properties of resonances in various atomic species and mixed atomic species systems, and an overview of key experiments with atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, degenerate Fermi gases, and ultracold molecules.

Feshbach resonances in ultracold gases

"Quantum sensing" describes the use of a quantum system, quantum properties or quantum phenomena to perform a measurement of a physical quantity Historical examples of quantum sensors include magnetometers based on superconducting quantum interference devices and atomic vapors, or atomic clocks More recently, quantum sensing has become a distinct and rapidly growing branch of research within the area of quantum science and technology, with the most common platforms being spin qubits, trapped ions and flux qubits The field is expected to provide new opportunities - especially with regard to high sensitivity and precision - in applied physics and other areas of science In this review, we provide an introduction to the basic principles, methods and concepts of quantum sensing from the viewpoint of the interested experimentalist

Quantum sensing

Feshbach Resonances in Ultracold Gases

We give a general introduction to quantum phase transitions in strongly-correlated electron systems. These transitions which occur at zero temperature when a non-thermal parameter $g$ like pressure, chemical composition or magnetic field is tuned to a critical value are characterized by a dynamic exponent $z$ related to the energy and length scales $\Delta$ and $\xi$. Simple arguments based on an expansion to first order in the effective interaction allow to define an upper-critical dimension $D_{C}=4$ (where $D=d+z$ and $d$ is the spatial dimension) below which mean-field description is no longer valid. We emphasize the role of pertubative renormalization group (RG) approaches and self-consistent renormalized spin fluctuation (SCR-SF) theories to understand the quantum-classical crossover in the vicinity of the quantum critical point with generalization to the Kondo effect in heavy-fermion systems. Finally we quote some recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments performed on heavy-fermions which lead to unusual scaling law in $\omega /T$ for the dynamical spin susceptibility revealing critical local modes beyond the itinerant magnetism scheme and mention new attempts to describe this local quantum critical point.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0102119.pdf

Quantum Phase Transitions

We present a new method of laser frequency locking in which the feedback signal is directly proportional to the detuning from an atomic transition, even at detunings many times the natural linewidth of the transition. Our method is a form of sub-Doppler polarization spectroscopy, based on measuring two Stokes parameters (I2 and I3) of light transmitted through a vapor cell. It extends the linear capture range of the lock loop by as much as an order of magnitude and provides frequency discrimination equivalent to or better than those of other commonly used locking techniques.

https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/30e1dbd1-64c3-4540-8857-c376e91fdd77/1/PDF (Published version).pdf

Laser frequency locking by direct measurement of detuning

We produce Bose–Einstein condensates of 6Li2 molecules in a low power (22 W) crossed optical dipole trap. Fermionic 6Li atoms are collected in a magneto-optical trap from a Zeeman slowed atomic beam and then loaded into the optical dipole trap where they are evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy. Our simplified system offers a high degree of flexibility in trapping geometry for studying ultracold Fermi and Bose gases.

https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/755bf0cf-7c1b-41cb-8fc4-879d62080154/1/PDF (Accepted manuscript).pdf

Molecular Bose-Einstein condensation in a versatile low power crossed dipole trap

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the phonon mode in a unitary Fermi gas. Using two-photon Bragg spectroscopy, we measure excitation spectra at a momentum of approximately half the Fermi momentum, both above and below the superfluid critical temperature T_{c}. Below T_{c}, the dominant excitation is the Bogoliubov-Anderson (BA) phonon mode, driven by gradients in the phase of the superfluid order parameter. The temperature dependence of the BA phonon is consistent with a theoretical model based on the quasiparticle random phase approximation in which the dominant damping mechanism is via collisions with thermally excited quasiparticles. As the temperature is increased above T_{c}, the phonon evolves into a strongly damped collisional mode, accompanied by an abrupt increase in spectral width. Our study reveals strong similarities between sound propagation in the unitary Fermi gas and bosonic liquid helium.

/pdf/high-frequency-sound-in-a-unitary-fermi-gas-257sb7tknx.pdf

High-Frequency Sound in a Unitary Fermi Gas.

We present measurements of the local (homogeneous) density-density response function of a Fermi gas at unitarity using spatially resolved Bragg spectroscopy. By analyzing the Bragg response across one axis of the cloud, we extract the response function for a uniform gas which shows a clear signature of the Bose-Einstein condensation of pairs of fermions when the local temperature drops below the superfluid transition temperature. The method we use for local measurement generalizes a scheme for obtaining the local pressure in a harmonically trapped cloud from the line density and can be adapted to provide any homogeneous parameter satisfying the local density approximation.

/pdf/local-observation-of-pair-condensation-in-a-fermi-gas-at-4pvmh3t2zk.pdf

Local observation of pair-condensation in a Fermi gas at unitarity

This article provides an overview of recent developments and emerging topics in the study of two-component Fermi gases using Bragg spectroscopy. Bragg scattering is achieved by exposing a gas to two intersecting laser beams with a slight frequency difference and measuring the momentum transferred to the atoms. By varying the Bragg laser detuning, it is possible to measure either the density or spin response functions which characterize the basic excitations present in the gas. Specifically, one can measure properties such as the dynamic and static structure factors, Tan’s universal contact parameter and observe signatures for the onset of pair condensation locally within a gas.

Chris J. Vale

Papers

Laser frequency locking by direct measurement of detuning

Molecular Bose-Einstein condensation in a versatile low power crossed dipole trap

High-Frequency Sound in a Unitary Fermi Gas.

Local observation of pair-condensation in a Fermi gas at unitarity

Bragg spectroscopy of strongly interacting Fermi gases