Many-body Quantum Transport with Ultracold Bosons

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Buchleitner, since 3/2014
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2013 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246058692

Today´s experimental possibilities of controlling ultracold quantum gases permit the preparation of many-body states as well as to time evolve and to observe the systems with hitherto unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Particularly, the interplay of control by external fields, internal correlations (particle-particle interaction), and the engineered coupling to environments offers many new ways to tailor quantum many-body systems. Our aim is to develop appropriate theoretical methods to describe open many-body systems consisting of ultracold bosons. Joining forces with research groups at Freiburg and Kaiserslautern, we want to concentrate on atoms in one-dimensional chains of potential wells, which couple to reservoirs at both ends. In a macroscopic view, this setting corresponds to applying a voltage drop along the chain, what leads to the transport of particles that we want to investigate. In close contact with experimentalists, we want to clarify the question how one can build good reservoirs using modern experimental methods. Theoretically, we seek a realistic and universal description of the quantum transport across the lattice with the help of correlation functions (Green´s functions), going beyond a pure Markovian coupling to the reservoirs and beyond mean-field approximations of the many-body processes. Comprehensive numerical computations guide and support our analytical modelling. This will pave the way for studying long-range interacting atoms and multi-dimensional setups as well.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Belgium, Greece
• Participating Persons: Georgios Kordas; Professor Dr. Herwig Ott; Professor Dr. Peter Schlagheck; Privatdozent Dr. Thomas Wellens
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Privatdozent Dr. Sandro Wimberger, until 3/2014