Ultracold dipolar molecules combine features of ultracold atoms and trapped ions. They promise new research avenues in quantum simulation, quantum computing, and quantum chemistry. But creating and taming ultracold systems of dipolar molecules is not a routine task. For example, Bose-Einstein condensates of dipolar molecules have not been created, yet.
In this talk, I will discuss the creation of dipolar NaCs molecules in their absolute ground state. NaCs molecules have a large dipole moment of 4.6 Debye, which will lead to strong long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Over the past year, we have created overlapping Bose-Einstein condensates of Na and Cs [1], located Feshbach resonances of the quantum gas mixture, and created near-degenerate gases of NaCs Feshbach molecules. Most recently, we have made significant progress towards NaCs molecules in their absolute ground state. With this system, we plan to explore new quantum phases, such as dipolar crystals and Mott insulators with fractional filling. Finally, I will give a brief overview of a new effort that we recently started. Using programmable arrays of Sr atoms, we are working towards demonstrating collective effects, such as subradiance, which may help enhancing coherence in many-body quantum systems in a fundamental way.
[1] “Overlapping Bose-Einstein Condensates of Na and Cs”, C. Warner et al., arXiv:2106.01334 (2021)