Ultracold Quantum Gases far from Equilibrium

Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasenzer

Atomic physics has been revolutionized during the past decades, especially through the advent of modern cooling an trapping technologies. Highlights of this evolution are the preparation of quantum-degenerate ultracold atomic gases, i.e., of Bose-Einstein condensates or degenerate Fermi gases. Highly precise preparation and measurement techniques are being developed with a huge effort all over the world, pushing atomic physics into a new era. The geometry of the atom traps can be varied almost at will and on very fast time scales. With this, as well as through strong interatomic forces induced by external electromagnetic fields, cold atom gases can be brought far out of equilibrium.

While many phenomena in ultracold atomic gases allow for complementary studies of their counterpart in solid state physics, with this, as compared to electron gases in solids, studies of the far-from-equilibrium dynamics over short and intermediate time scales are possible. This project focuses on the dynamics of quantum gases of ultracold atoms far from thermal equilibrium. The theory of this dynamics, but also of that of various other physical systems remains still in its beginnings, and our aim is to proceed substantially beyond standard dynamical quantum field theoretical approximations.

Making these methods accessible to experimental precision verification has important potential impact on other areas like heavy-ion collisions or cosmology, where non-equilibrium methods are needed and much more difficult to be checked experimentally.

Project topics:

• Dynamics in low-dimensional gases
• Strongly interacting Fermi gases
• Superfluid to Mott-insulator transition

Publications

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