Excitation spectrum of a trapped dipolar supersolid

Excitation spectrum of a trapped dipolar supersolid

In a combined theory and experimental work, we study the elementary excitations of trapped dipolar quantum gases crossing from regular superfluid to supersolid.

First Dipolar Quantum Mixtures!

First Dipolar Quantum Mixtures!

We have created for the first time a dipolar quantum mixture by combining two highly magnetic atomic species, Erbium and Dysprosium.

Observation of roton quasiparticles in Erbium

Observation of roton quasiparticles in Erbium

In collaboration with our theory collaborators from Innsbruck and Hannover, we have observed for the first time so-called roton quasiparticles in an ultracold bosonic gas of erbium atoms.

Our dipolar quantum gas group …

Our dipolar quantum gas group …

…we work with highly magnetic Erbium and Dysprosium atoms, which we cool to Nanokelvin temperatures in oder to explore the fascinating physics of the quantum world.

Working in ultrahigh vacuum

Working in ultrahigh vacuum

All our experiments are carried out at pressures of 10^(-11) mbar. In order to achieve these ultrahigh vacuums, carefully designed chambers need to be machined and assembled.

Trapping and cooling of quantum particles

Trapping and cooling of quantum particles

In order to trap and cool Erbium and Dysprosium in magneto optical traps, we use one of their narrow-linewidth transitions. These transitions need yellow laser light for Erbium and red one for Dysprosium.

Trapping ultracold quantum particles

Trapping ultracold quantum particles

In order to investigate quamtumphysics, we need high power lasers to trap atoms.  In our experiments we utilise for example green light to realise an optical lattice in which the atoms can be arranged on a periodic crystal structure.

Back in 2010

Back in 2010

Yes, it started like this with our optical table arriving under the snow…

Crossover from a BEC to a macrodroplet

Crossover from a BEC to a macrodroplet

Together with our theory colleagues from Hannover, we have investigated the formation of a macrodroplet state in an ultracold bosonic gas of erbium atoms.

The Dipolar Quantum Gas Group is one of the three teams composing the Innsbruck Center for Ultracold Atoms and Quantum Gases. We focus on highly magnetic magnetic Lanthanide atoms, Erbium and Dysprosium, which are a novel and powerful resource for realizing dipolar quantum matter.

The group, led by Francesca Ferlaino, is located at the  Institute for Experimental Physics (IExP) of the University of Innsbruck and at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

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New Excellence Fellowship Program for Visiting Master Students: Applications are now open!

We are pleased to announce the launching a novel excellence fellowship program to provide support to external master students willing to join our group for their research project. The call for application for the year 2020 is now open. Application should be submitted until April 15th 2020 for an internship starting, at the latest, end of November 2020.

Internship projects are offered on our three experiments. If you are a master student looking for a thrilling internship project on quantum physics, this is for you! For more details, see here.

Deep Learning-Assisted Classification of Site-Resolved Quantum Gas Microscope Images

Now in Measurement Science and Technology!

Illustration of the convolutional neural network architecture used in the present work. The images are a sample of the features learned at each layer of the network. These are created using a version of the deepDream algorithm in MATLAB, shown as a grid of artificial images which most strongly activate those features.

In collaboration with our theory colleague at IQOQI (Rick van Bijnen) we present a novel method for the analysis of quantum gas microscope images. Our method uses deep learning to improve the fidelity with which lattice sites can be classified as occupied or unoccupied. This method is able to improve upon the fidelity of threshold-based methods, following training on large data sets of simulated images. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the neural networks especially for the analysis of noncooled lattice images, as it is planned for our future Erbium quantum gas microscope. Here, low photon counts and atom movement limits the fidelity of traditional reconstruction techniques.

“Cécile DeWitt-Morette” prize awarded to Francesca Ferlaino

The “Cécile DeWitt-Morette / School of Physics Houches” prize of the French Academy of Sciences was created in 2019 to honor the memory of Cécile DeWitt-Morette, notable scientist and founder of the École de Physique des Houches in 1951.

Francesca won the first edition for the “remarkable work on ultra-cold atom gases” ranging from the early investigation on Efimov physics to the more recent results on dipolar quantum gases of Erbium and Erbium-Dysprosium. Her work paves the way for a better understanding of quantum physics and for future applications in quantum simulation and quantum engineering.

More information can be found here on the official webpage (in French).

Congratulations to Francesca for the Junior BEC Award

From left to right: Immanuel Bloch, Sandro Stringari, Francesca Ferlaino, Lev Pitaevskii, Thierry Giamarchi, Jürgen Stuhler

Last week Francesca Ferlaino has received the Junior BEC Award 2019 for her “pioneering work on Bose-Einstein condensation of dipolar Erbium atoms and more generally degenerate quantum gases with long-range interactions and for realizing novel quantum phases of matter with such systems”.
The award, honoring outstanding achievements in the field of Bose-Einstein condensation, was presented at the international BEC Conference in Sant Feliu de de Guíxols.

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