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Lorenzo Francesco Livi has been awarded with a prize from Florence University Press for the best PhD thesis discussed in 2018 at University of Florence among all the scientific disciplines. The prize will consist in the publication of the thesis, titled "New quantum simulations with ultracold Ytterbium gases", by Florence University Press. The diploma has been given to Lorenzo by Prof. Luigi Dei, Rector of the University of Florence, in a public ceremony. Congratulations! Lorenzo Francesco Livi |
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The competition of dipole-dipole and contact interactions leads to exciting new physics in dipolar gases, well-illustrated by the recent observation of quantum droplets and rotons in dipolar condensates. We have now discovered that the combination of the roton instability and quantum stabilization leads under proper conditions to a novel regime that presents supersolid properties, due to the coexistence of periodic density modulation and phase coherence. In a combined experimental and theoretical analysis (with the University of Hannover), we have determined the parameter regime for the formation of coherent stripes, whose lifetime of a few tens of milliseconds is limited by the eventual destruction of the stripe pattern due to three-body losses. Our results open intriguing prospects for the development of long-lived dipolar supersolids.
L. Tanzi et al. See also the reviews on Physics Viewpoint by T. Donner: T. Donner, Dipolar Quantum Gases go Supersolid and the Nature News and Views by L. Pollet: L. Pollet, Quantum gases show flashes of a supersolid |
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Ultracold molecules have experienced increasing attention in recent years. Compared to ultracold atoms, they possess several unique properties that make them perfect candidates for the implementation of new quantum-technological applications in several fields, from quantum simulation to quantum sensing and metrology. In particular, ultracold molecules of two-electron atoms (such as strontium or ytterbium) also inherit the peculiar properties of these atomic species, above all, the possibility to access metastable electronic states via direct excitation on optical clock transitions with ultimate sensitivity and accuracy. We report on the production and coherent manipulation of molecular bound states of two fermionic 173Yb atoms in different electronic (orbital) states 1S0 and eP0 in the proximity of a scattering resonance involving atoms in different spin and electronic states, called orbital Feshbach resonance. We demonstrate that orbital molecules can be coherently photoassociated starting from a gas of ground-state atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice by observing several photoassociation and photodissociation cycles. We also show the possibility to coherently control the molecular internal state by using Raman-assisted transfer to swap the nuclear spin of one of the atoms forming the molecule, thus demonstrating a powerful manipulation and detection tool of these molecular bound states. Finally, by exploiting this peculiar detection technique we provide the first information on the lifetime of the molecular states in a many-body setting, paving the way towards future investigations of strongly interacting Fermi gases in a still unexplored regime. G. Cappellini, et al. |
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Analogously to a beating heart, the electrodes of an ion trap need to receive synchronous RF electric signals with a precise frequency and phase in order to function properly. We developed a compact RF drive for the electrodes of our ion trap composed of interdependent RLC circuits resonating at iso-frequency, iso-amplitude and with proper phase opposition. The circuit provides an amplification factor of 200 and it allows ions' micromotion correction via feedback loops. A. Detti, et al. |
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Strong interactions among fermionic particles in condensed matter are known to foster rich phase diagrams, where distinct microscopic mechanisms compete with one another. In this work, we reveal the emergence of two competing instabilities in a paradigmatic model system, i.e., a Fermi gas of ultracold atoms. While it has been established that a cold gas of atoms subject to strong interactions is unstable towards forming pairs of oppositely oriented spins, a long-standing issue is whether strong repulsion can trigger fermions to build up correlations and develop ferromagnetic order. Here, we probe the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a repulsive Fermi gas with unprecedented time resolution, exploiting a pump-probe spectroscopic technique akin to the ultrafast spectroscopy used in the solid state. In this way, we witness the real-time growth of spin anti-correlations in the gas driven only by repulsive interactions. Their interplay with the tendency of fermions to pair up is found to persist over long time scales, giving rise to a novel, emulsion-like metastable state unforeseen thus far. These findings represent an important testbed for current and future theories, while they also afford exciting perspectives for accessing elusive regimes of fermionic superfluidity. A. Amico, F. Scazza, G. Valtolina, P. E. S. Tavares, W. Ketterle, M. Inguscio, G. Roati, and M. Zaccanti See also the Physics Viewpoint by L. LeBlanc: L. LeBlanc |