Trap-modulation spectroscopy of the Mott-insulator transition in optical lattices
Year: 2009
Authors: Lignier H., Zenesini A., Ciampini D., Morsch O., Arimondo E., Montangero S., Pupillo G., Fazio R.
Autors Affiliation: CNR INFM, Dipartimento Fis E Fermi, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Univ Pisa, CNISM UdR, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Univ Ulm, Inst Quanteninformationsverarbeitung, D-89069 Ulm, Germany; NEST CNR INFM, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Scuola Normale Super Pisa, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Univ Innsbruck, Inst Theoret Phys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Inst Quantum Opt & Quantum Informat, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Abstract: We discuss a technique to probe the properties of an interacting cold atomic gas that can be viewed as a dynamical compressibility measurement. We apply this technique to the study of the superfluid-to-Mott-insulator quantum phase transition in one and three dimensions for a bosonic gas trapped in an optical lattice. Excitations of the system are detected by time-of-flight measurements. The experimental data for the one-dimensional case are in good agreement with the results of a time-dependent density-matrix-renormalization-group calculation.
Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A
Volume: 79(4) Pages from: 041601-1 to: 041601-4
KeyWords: boson systems; metal-insulator transition; modulation spectra; optical lattices; renormalisationDOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.79.041601