Speaker
Description
Quantum mechanics lies at the heart of many fascinating phenomena in condensed matter physics. One prominent effect is superconductivity, where fermionic electrons pair up to form composite bosons. Their collective quantum coherence gives rise to superconductivity and closely related superfluid behavior.
Ultracold atoms provide a powerful platform for studying these phenomena on a microscopic scale. Fermionic atoms at nanokelvin temperatures mimic electrons on slower timescales and larger length scale. Their interaction strength can be tuned experimentally and the trapping potential can be shaped almost arbitrarily. Imaging techniques allow for local resolution and momentum-resolved measurements. This makes ultracold atoms an ideal platform for quantum simulation of complex many-body systems.
In this talk, I will discuss ultracold fermions in optical lattices, which emulate electrons in a crystal. In these systems, the interplay between interactions and tunneling gives rise to strong correlations that are notoriously difficult to describe theoretically. As a consequence, the pairing mechanism cannot be described by the conventional BCS theory and remains an open question. Using ultracold potassium atoms in optical lattices, we investigate unconventional pairing in the presence of repulsive interactions.
