Novel physics of polar molecules in optical lattices

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Luis Santos
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Optik, Quantenoptik und Physik der Atome, Moleküle und Plasmen
• Förderung: Förderung von 2010 bis 2014
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 160524815

The long-range anisotropic character of the dipole-dipole interaction leads to a wealth of new physics in dipolar gases, already partially unveiled by recent experiments on atomic magnetic dipoles. Recent experiments on heteronuclear molecules allow to foreseeing a quantum degenerate gas of polar molecules in the next future. Contrary to the relatively weak atomic magnetic dipoles, the electric dipole moment of polar molecules may be extraordinarily large, and if properly oriented by an external electric field, the electric dipole-dipole interaction may completely dominate the system. This may be particularly striking for polar molecules in deep optical lattices, where the dipole-dipole interaction allows for a strong interaction of molecules at different sites even without hopping. This proposal focuses on the novel effects introduced by this inter-site coupling. Weak dipoles may lead to inter-site hybrid excitations, and the enhancement of instabilities. Even more fascinatingly, strong dipoles may induce the formation of composites of particles lying at different sites. We plan in particular the study of pair-superfluidity and BCS-like pairing in Bose and Fermi gases in two-well potentials. The project will be completed by the study of filaments of polar molecules, and the physics of ideal and interacting gases of filaments.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen