Soft Matter and Complex Systems Seminar

Hybrid systems of laser-cooled trapped ions and ultracold atomscombined in a single experimental setup have recently emerged as a new platform for fundamental research in quantum physics [1]. Reaching the ultracold s-wave quantum regime has been one of the most important challenges in this field for a long time. Unfortunately, the lowest attainable temperatures in experiments using the Paul ion trap are limited by the possible rf-field-induced heating related to the micromotion [2]. Recently, buffer gas cooling of a single ion in a Paul trap to the quantum regime of ion-atom collisions was realized and a deviation from classical Langevin theory was observed by studying the spin-exchange dynamics, indicating quantum effects in the ion-atom collisions [3]. In my seminar, I will present how in collaboration with experimental groups from Amsterdam [3] and Stuttgart [4] we have overcome this limitation and how electronic structure theory and nuclear dynamics simulations guided and explained experimental efforts.

[1] Tomza et al, Rev. Mod. Phys. 91, 035001 (2019)
[2] Cetina et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 253201 (2012)
[3] Feldker et al, Nat. Phys. Nature Phys. 16, 413 (2020)
[4] Schmid et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 153401 (2018)

The seminar will be conducted on Zoom
https://zoom.us/j/92987083349?pwd=YTZLSFVWUnJzdE4xS1drR3dqMVFDdz09