This CAREER award supports theoretical research and education on new states of matter in cold-atom systems. Recent advances in the cooling and trapping of atomic gases have led to observations of correlated states of matter. Cold-atom experiments, in addition to being impurity-free, are remarkably controllable, so that quantities such as the particle number, the shape of an external potential and atomic interactions can be tuned. This level of control enables the study of a wide parameter space of interacting cold-atom systems. The PI will focus on research areas that are pertinent to current and future cold-atom experiments.
The PI will compute signatures of predicted p-wave superfluid phases of three-dimensional imbalanced Fermi gases and study phase transitions to other ordered states of matter. To address recent experiments on imbalanced gases in a quasi-one-dimensional trap, the PI will predict the dynamical evolution of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state after the gas has been released from the trap, to see how such experiments can detect the elusive Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing. Additional calculations will examine imbalanced gases in two dimensions to stimulate future experiments.
The PI will compute the properties of cold bosonic atoms in a periodic optical lattice across a broad range of lattice amplitudes, including the low amplitude regime where the conventional Hubbard model breaks down. Another exciting area of research is inspired by the recent achievement of an artificial spin-orbit coupling for cold atoms. The PI will analyze how spin-orbit coupling modifies states of matter, such as states of bosons in optical lattices and the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state of fermions, and study the question of how spin-orbit coupling can be used to create cold-atom analogues of topological insulating phases.
The education component includes course development for undergraduate students that will incorporate novel teching methods. This will include making courses communication intensive. This award also supports aspects of an outreach project to the public and high school and middle school students. An in-school demonstration program is aimed to increase the interest of minority students in science and careers in science.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY
This CAREER award supports theoretical research and education on how atoms organize themselves at very low temperature when they are trapped in beams of laser light. The atoms in these "crystals of light" are like the electrons in materials, except that it is easier to control the interactions among the electrons and learn about the states of electronic matter. While it is unclear whether and how some states of matter that may occur in gases of cold atoms can be realized by electrons in cystals, their discovery would still provide insight into electronic states in materials. The PI will explore whether a superconducting state that has been predicted to exist but has been difficult to observe in materials can be observed in trapped gases of cold atoms. Superconducting states are quantum mechanical states that are able to transport electricity without dissipation. The PI will aslo seek whether a recently proposed novel insulating state, a topological insulator, can be observed in "crystals of light". Topological insulators do not conduct electricity through the bulk of the material, but have metallic surface states with unusual properties.
The research contributes to the intellectual foundations that underlie possible future device technologies.
The education component includes course development for undergraduate students that will incorporate novel teching methods. This will include making courses communication intensive. This award also supports aspects of an outreach project to the public and high school and middle school students. An in-school demonstration program is aimed to increase the interest of minority students in science and careers in science.
