p-Wave cold collisions in an optical lattice clock

Area of Science:

• Atomic physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Condensed matter physics

Background:

• Ultracold atoms are crucial for precision measurements and quantum technologies.
• Fermionic systems exhibit unique quantum statistical properties.
• Collisions between atoms can introduce systematic errors in atomic clocks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate ultracold collisions in fermionic ytterbium.
• To explore the role of Fermi statistics in atomic interactions.
• To understand and mitigate collision-induced energy shifts in atomic clock states.

Main Methods:

• Precise measurement of energy shifts in atomic clock states.
• Utilizing two-dimensional lattice confinement for high atomic densities.
• Exploiting Fermi statistics to identify collision types.

Main Results:

• Discovery of p-wave collisions in both weakly and strongly interacting regimes.
• Demonstration of novel suppression of collision shifts at high densities.
• Quantification of energy shifts imparted by ultracold collisions.

Conclusions:

• Ultracold collisions in fermionic ytterbium are characterized by p-wave interactions.
• Two-dimensional lattice confinement enables suppression of collision shifts.
• Findings reduce systematic errors in lattice clocks and advance quantum information and simulation.