Ultracold atoms provide the best frequency references for clocks and are used as test masses in gravimeters. They are also a flexible platform to design well-controlled quantum many-body systems. Our group is exploiting the unique properties of strontium to advance these two research lines.
In the first part of this talk I’ll describe our attempt to create a continuous atom laser. Such a device would allow the steady-state operation of atomic clocks and gravimeters, thereby elimination a fundamental noise source present in pulsed measurement devices. As an intermediate step to our goal we have created a steady-state sample of ultracold atoms close to quantum degeneracy.
In the second part I’ll discuss our effort to create a quantum gas of RbSr ground-state molecules. These molecules have a large electric dipole moment and an unpaired electron, which gives us new interaction control possibilities and is interesting for many-body system design. In order to associate ultracold Rb and Sr atoms into RbSr molecules we will use unusual magnetic Feshbach resonances, which we recently discovered in this system.
Host: Nir Navon