Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 34: Poster 1

Q 34.23: Poster

Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.I+II

Multi-component fermionic quantum gases in optical lattices — •Jannes Heinze, Jasper Simon Krauser, Nick Fläschner, Sören Götze, Christoph Becker, and Klaus Sengstock — Universität Hamburg, Institut für Laser-Physik, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany

The alignment of electron-spins in materials constitutes the microscopic origin of their magnetic properties. Understanding the resulting magnetic quantum phases and their microscopic structure is of high interest. Promising progress has been achieved in this direction using ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices which provide widely tunable experimental systems. Here, we study the properties of multi-component fermionic quantum gases in an optical lattice. In contrast to real solids with spin-1/2 electrons, we produce interacting spin mixtures of potassium atoms allowing for the realization of a higher effective spin. We observe the quantum dynamics of excited states and identify different regimes. The findings are explained within a theoretical two-particle model including the atomic interaction. Our results open new perspectives to study magnetism of fermionic lattice systems beyond conventional spin-1/2 systems.