Mediated Interaction between Ions in Quantum Degenerate Gases.

We explore the interaction between two trapped ions mediated by a surrounding quantum degenerate Bose or Fermi gas. Using perturbation theory valid for weak atom-ion interaction, we show analytically that the interaction mediated by a Bose gas has a power-law behavior for large distances whereas it has a Yukawa form for intermediate distances. For a Fermi gas, the mediated interaction is given by a power law for large density and by a Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida form for low density.

Observation of a Lee-Huang-Yang Fluid.

We observe monopole oscillations in a mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates, where the usually dominant mean-field interactions are canceled. In this case, the system is governed by the next-order Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) correction to the ground state energy, which describes the effect of quantum fluctuations. Experimentally such a LHY fluid is realized by controlling the atom numbers and interaction strengths in a ^{39}K spin mixture confined in a spherical trap potential.

Simulation of XXZ Spin Models Using Sideband Transitions in Trapped Bosonic Gases.

We theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate the use of motional sidebands in a trapped ensemble of ^{87}Rb atoms to engineer tunable long-range XXZ spin models. We benchmark our simulator by probing a ferromagnetic to paramagnetic dynamical phase transition in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, a collective XXZ model plus additional transverse and longitudinal fields, via Rabi spectroscopy. We experimentally reconstruct the boundary between the dynamical phases, which is in good agreement with mean-field theoretical predictions.

Dilute Fluid Governed by Quantum Fluctuations.

Understanding the effects of interactions in complex quantum systems beyond the mean-field paradigm constitutes a fundamental problem in physics. We show how the atom numbers and interactions in a Bose-Bose mixture can be tuned to cancel mean-field interactions completely. The resulting system is entirely governed by quantum fluctuations-specifically the Lee-Huang-Yang correlations.

Note: A portable rotating waveplate polarimeter.

We describe the construction and performance of a polarimeter based on a quarter-wave plate rotated by a model airplane motor. The motor rotates at a high angular frequency of ω∼2π×160 Hz, which enables the polarimeter to monitor the polarization state of an incident beam of light in real-time. We show that a simple analysis of the polarimeter signal using the fast Fourier transform on a standard digital oscilloscope provides an excellent measure of the polarization state for many laboratory applications.

Observation of Attractive and Repulsive Polarons in a Bose-Einstein Condensate.

The problem of an impurity particle moving through a bosonic medium plays a fundamental role in physics. However, the canonical scenario of a mobile impurity immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) has not yet been realized. Here, we use radio frequency spectroscopy of ultracold bosonic ^{39}K atoms to experimentally demonstrate the existence of a well-defined quasiparticle state of an impurity interacting with a BEC.

Detecting multiparticle entanglement of Dicke states.

Recent experiments demonstrate the production of many thousands of neutral atoms entangled in their spin degrees of freedom. We present a criterion for estimating the amount of entanglement based on a measurement of the global spin. It outperforms previous criteria and applies to a wider class of entangled states, including Dicke states.

Non-destructive Faraday imaging of dynamically controlled ultracold atoms.

We describe an easily implementable method for non-destructive measurements of ultracold atomic clouds based on dark field imaging of spatially resolved Faraday rotation. The signal-to-noise ratio is analyzed theoretically and, in the absence of experimental imperfections, the sensitivity limit is found to be identical to other conventional dispersive imaging techniques. The dependence on laser detuning, atomic density, and temperature is characterized in a detailed comparison with theory.