Journal Article•
Measuring entanglement entropy in a quantum many-body system
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured entanglement in a system of itinerant particles using quantum interference of many-body twins in optical lattices, making use of their single-site-resolved control of ultracold bosonic atoms.
Abstract: Entanglement is one of the most intriguing features of quantum mechanics. It describes non-local correlations between quantum objects, and is at the heart of quantum information sciences. Entanglement is now being studied in diverse fields ranging from condensed matter to quantum gravity. However, measuring entanglement remains a challenge. This is especially so in systems of interacting delocalized particles, for which a direct experimental measurement of spatial entanglement has been elusive. Here, we measure entanglement in such a system of itinerant particles using quantum interference of many-body twins. Making use of our single-site-resolved control of ultracold bosonic atoms in optical lattices, we prepare two identical copies of a many-body state and interfere them. This enables us to directly measure quantum purity, Rényi entanglement entropy, and mutual information. These experiments pave the way for using entanglement to characterize quantum phases and dynamics of strongly correlated many-body systems.
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: Single atom–single lattice site imaging is used to investigate the Bose-Hubbard model on a microscopic level and enables space- and time-resolved characterization of the number statistics across the superfluid–Mott insulator quantum phase transition.
Abstract: From Superfluid to Mott Insulator One of the most attractive characteristics of cold atomic gases in optical lattices is their ability to simulate condensed-matter systems. The results of these quantum simulations are usually averaged over the atomic ensemble, or course-grained over several lattice sites. Now, Bakr et al. (p. 547, published online 17 June; see the Perspective by DeMarco) provide a single lattice site view onto the transition of a Bose gas of Rb-87 from the superfluid to the Mott-insulating state. Characteristic concentric shells of uniform number density were observed deep in the Mott insulator regime, and probing the local quantum dynamics revealed unexpectedly short time scales. The low-defect Mott structures identified may provide a starting point for quantum magnetism experiments. Imaging of atoms that were optically trapped in lattice sites reveals local dynamics of a quantum phase transition. 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.
464 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Site-resolved imaging of two-component fermionic Mott insulators, metals, and band insulator systems, using ultracold atoms in a square lattice is reported.
Abstract: Watching fermions transition on site Optical lattices are a promising platform for simulating the many-body physics that occurs in solids. In lattices filled with cold bosonic atoms, “quantum microscopy” makes it possible to watch quantum phase transitions as they unravel. Greif et al. bring a similar capability to lattices filled with fermions, which are trickier to cool but are a closer match to electrons in a solid. Tuning the interaction between the 6Li atoms allowed for the observation of transitions from a metallic phase to a band insulator and then to an interaction-dominated Mott insulator phase. Science, this issue p. 953 Various phases are observed in a system of 6Li atoms in an optical lattice as the interaction between the atoms is tuned. The complexity of quantum many-body systems originates from the interplay of strong interactions, quantum statistics, and the large number of quantum-mechanical degrees of freedom. Probing these systems on a microscopic level with single-site resolution offers important insights. Here we report site-resolved imaging of two-component fermionic Mott insulators, metals, and band insulators, using ultracold atoms in a square lattice. For strong repulsive interactions, we observed two-dimensional Mott insulators containing over 400 atoms. For intermediate interactions, we observed a coexistence of phases. From comparison to theory, we find trap-averaged entropies per particle of 1.0 times the Boltzmann constant (kB). In the band insulator, we find local entropies as low as 0.5 kB. Access to local observables will aid the understanding of fermionic many-body systems in regimes inaccessible by modern theoretical methods.
109 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, single-site imaging in a two-dimensional optical lattice filled with interacting rubidium atoms shows that disorder can prevent thermalization in many-body localized systems.
Abstract: Bosons refusing to thermalize in 2D Messy, interacting quantum-mechanical systems are difficult to analyze theoretically. In a single spatial dimension, the calculations are still tractable, and experiments have recently confirmed the prediction that sufficiently strong disorder can disrupt the transport of interacting particles. In two dimensions, however, the theoretical blueprint is missing. Choi et al. used single-site imaging of cold 87Rb atoms in an optical lattice to show that similar localization occurs in two-dimensional (2D) systems. The study highlights the power of quantum simulation to solve problems that are currently inaccessible to classical computing techniques. Science, this issue p. 1547 Single-site imaging in a two-dimensional optical lattice filled with interacting rubidium atoms shows that disorder can prevent thermalization. A fundamental assumption in statistical physics is that generic closed quantum many-body systems thermalize under their own dynamics. Recently, the emergence of many-body localized systems has questioned this concept and challenged our understanding of the connection between statistical physics and quantum mechanics. Here we report on the observation of a many-body localization transition between thermal and localized phases for bosons in a two-dimensional disordered optical lattice. With our single-site–resolved measurements, we track the relaxation dynamics of an initially prepared out-of-equilibrium density pattern and find strong evidence for a diverging length scale when approaching the localization transition. Our experiments represent a demonstration and in-depth characterization of many-body localization in a regime not accessible with state-of-the-art simulations on classical computers.
46 citations
Dissertation•
16 May 2016
TL;DR: In this article, an experimental technique where a quantum gas of fermionic 6Li atoms is prepared in a two-dimensional optical lattice and each atom can be frozen in place and imaged with single-site resolution is described.
Abstract: Strongly-correlated electron systems generate some of the richest phenomena and most challenging theoretical problems studied in physics. One approach to understanding these systems is with ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices, which can provide a level of control and ways of observing strongly-correlated fermionic systems that are not accessible with conventional materials. This thesis describes the development of an experimental technique where a quantum gas of fermionic 6Li atoms is prepared in a two-dimensional optical lattice and each atom can be frozen in place and imaged with single-site resolution. Combining a vacuum-compatible large numerical aperture microscope with Raman sideband cooling enables site-resolved fluorescence imaging with high fidelity. We observe several phases of the Hubbard model, including band andMott insulators. The observed in-situ occupation distributions of atoms in the lattice are compared to theory with unprecedented detail and are used to determine the thermodynamic properties of the system. By combining site-resolved imaging with a spin-removal technique, we observe antiferromagnetic correlations in the Hubbard model with single-site resolution. We observe, for the first time in cold atom systems, beyond-nearest-neighbor magnetic correlations, which provide a direct measurement of the correlation length. We also present detailed measurements of the formation of correlations during lattice loading.
22 citations
References
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TL;DR: This special issue of Mathematical Structures in Computer Science contains several contributions related to the modern field of Quantum Information and Quantum Computing, with a focus on entanglement.
Abstract: This special issue of Mathematical Structures in Computer Science contains several contributions related to the modern field of Quantum Information and Quantum Computing.
The first two papers deal with entanglement. The paper by R. Mosseri and P. Ribeiro presents a detailed description of the two-and three-qubit geometry in Hilbert space, dealing with the geometry of fibrations and discrete geometry. The paper by J.-G.Luque et al. is more algebraic and considers invariants of pure k-qubit states and their application to entanglement measurement.
14,205 citations
TL;DR: A fourth-order interference technique has been used to measure the time intervals between two photons, and by implication the length of the photon wave packet, produced in the process of parametric down-conversion.
Abstract: A fourth-order interference technique has been used to measure the time intervals between two photons, and by implication the length of the photon wave packet, produced in the process of parametric down-conversion. The width of the time-interval distribution, which is largely determined by an interference filter, is found to be about 100 fs, with an accuracy that could, in principle, be less than 1 fs.
3,757 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that a generic isolated quantum many-body system does relax to a state well described by the standard statistical-mechanical prescription, and it is shown that time evolution itself plays a merely auxiliary role in relaxation, and that thermalization instead happens at the level of individual eigenstates, as first proposed by Deutsch and Srednicki.
Abstract: It is demonstrated that an isolated generic quantum many-body system does relax to a state well described by the standard statistical mechanical prescription The thermalization happens at the level of individual eigenstates, allowing the computation of thermal averages from knowledge of any eigenstate in the microcanonical energy window An understanding of the temporal evolution of isolated many-body quantum systems has long been elusive Recently, meaningful experimental studies1,2 of the problem have become possible, stimulating theoretical interest3,4,5,6,7 In generic isolated systems, non-equilibrium dynamics is expected8,9 to result in thermalization: a relaxation to states in which the values of macroscopic quantities are stationary, universal with respect to widely differing initial conditions, and predictable using statistical mechanics However, it is not obvious what feature of many-body quantum mechanics makes quantum thermalization possible in a sense analogous to that in which dynamical chaos makes classical thermalization possible10 For example, dynamical chaos itself cannot occur in an isolated quantum system, in which the time evolution is linear and the spectrum is discrete11 Some recent studies4,5 even suggest that statistical mechanics may give incorrect predictions for the outcomes of relaxation in such systems Here we demonstrate that a generic isolated quantum many-body system does relax to a state well described by the standard statistical-mechanical prescription Moreover, we show that time evolution itself plays a merely auxiliary role in relaxation, and that thermalization instead happens at the level of individual eigenstates, as first proposed by Deutsch12 and Srednicki13 A striking consequence of this eigenstate-thermalization scenario, confirmed for our system, is that knowledge of a single many-body eigenstate is sufficient to compute thermal averages—any eigenstate in the microcanonical energy window will do, because they all give the same result
2,598 citations
TL;DR: The results establish a precise connection between concepts of quantum information, condensed matter physics, and quantum field theory, by showing that the behavior of critical entanglement in spin systems is analogous to that of entropy in conformal field theories.
Abstract: Entanglement, one of the most intriguing features of quantum theory and a main resource in quantum information science, is expected to play a crucial role also in the study of quantum phase transitions, where it is responsible for the appearance of long-range correlations. We investigate, through a microscopic calculation, the scaling properties of entanglement in spin chain systems, both near and at a quantum critical point. Our results establish a precise connection between concepts of quantum information, condensed matter physics, and quantum field theory, by showing that the behavior of critical entanglement in spin systems is analogous to that of entropy in conformal field theories. We explore some of the implications of this connection.
2,522 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the current status of area laws in quantum many-body systems is reviewed and a significant proportion is devoted to the clear and quantitative connection between the entanglement content of states and the possibility of their efficient numerical simulation.
Abstract: Physical interactions in quantum many-body systems are typically local: Individual constituents interact mainly with their few nearest neighbors. This locality of interactions is inherited by a decay of correlation functions, but also reflected by scaling laws of a quite profound quantity: the entanglement entropy of ground states. This entropy of the reduced state of a subregion often merely grows like the boundary area of the subregion, and not like its volume, in sharp contrast with an expected extensive behavior. Such ``area laws'' for the entanglement entropy and related quantities have received considerable attention in recent years. They emerge in several seemingly unrelated fields, in the context of black hole physics, quantum information science, and quantum many-body physics where they have important implications on the numerical simulation of lattice models. In this Colloquium the current status of area laws in these fields is reviewed. Center stage is taken by rigorous results on lattice models in one and higher spatial dimensions. The differences and similarities between bosonic and fermionic models are stressed, area laws are related to the velocity of information propagation in quantum lattice models, and disordered systems, nonequilibrium situations, and topological entanglement entropies are discussed. These questions are considered in classical and quantum systems, in their ground and thermal states, for a variety of correlation measures. A significant proportion is devoted to the clear and quantitative connection between the entanglement content of states and the possibility of their efficient numerical simulation. Matrix-product states, higher-dimensional analogs, and variational sets from entanglement renormalization are also discussed and the paper is concluded by highlighting the implications of area laws on quantifying the effective degrees of freedom that need to be considered in simulations of quantum states.
2,282 citations