Atomic and molecular physics articles within Nature Physics

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  • Research Briefing |

    The Q-value of electron capture in 163Ho has been determined with an uncertainty of 0.6 eV c–2 through a combination of high-precision Penning-trap mass spectrometry and precise atomic physics calculations. This high-precision measurement provides insight into systematic errors in neutrino mass measurements.

  • News & Views |

    Interacting emitters are the fundamental building blocks of quantum optics and quantum information devices. Pairs of organic molecules embedded in a crystal can become permanently strongly interacting when they are pumped with intense laser light.

    • Stuart J. Masson

  • News & Views |

    Quantum simulators can provide new insights into the complicated dynamics of quantum many-body systems far from equilibrium. A recent experiment reveals that underlying symmetries dictate the nature of universal scaling dynamics.

    • Maximilian Prüfer

  • Article |

    Raman sideband cooling is a method used to prepare atoms and ions in their vibrational ground state. This technique has now been extended to molecules trapped in optical tweezer arrays.

    • Yukai Lu
    • , Samuel J. Li
    •  & Lawrence W. Cheuk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transition from a metastable state to the ground state in classical many-body systems is mediated by bubble nucleation. This transition has now been experimentally observed in a quantum setting using coupled atomic superfluids.

    • A. Zenesini
    • , A. Berti
    •  & G. Ferrari

  • News & Views |

    Quasicrystals are ordered but not periodic, which makes them fascinating objects at the interface between order and disorder. Experiments with ultracold atoms zoom in on this interface by driving a quasicrystal and exploring its fractal properties.

    • Julian Léonard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phases of matter can host different transport behaviours, ranging from diffusion to localization. Anomalous transport has now been observed in an interacting Bose gas in a one-dimensional lattice subject to a pulsed incommensurate potential.

    • Toshihiko Shimasaki
    • , Max Prichard
    •  & David M. Weld

  • News & Views |

    Optical atomic clocks are extremely accurate sensors despite the poor use of their resources. A parallel quantum control approach might help to optimize the resources of optical atomic clocks, which could lead to an exponential improvement in their performance.

    • Simone Colombo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Addressing optical transitions at the level of a single site is crucial to unlock the potential of quantum computers and atomic clocks. A scheme based on atom rearrangement now demonstrates such control with demonstrable metrological benefits.

    • Adam L. Shaw
    • , Ran Finkelstein
    •  & Manuel Endres

  • News & Views |

    Precise frequencies of nearly forbidden transitions have been ascertained in the simplest molecule, the molecular hydrogen ion. This work offers a new perspective on precision measurements and fundamental physical tests with molecular spectroscopy.

    • Xin Tong

  • News & Views |

    A promising pathway towards the laser cooling of a molecule containing a radioactive atom has been identified. The unique structure of such a molecule means that it can act as a magnifying lens to probe fundamental physics.

    • Steven Hoekstra

  • Research Briefing |

    Landau’s theory of Fermi liquids predicts that impurities embedded in a Fermi sea of atoms form quasiparticles called polarons that interact with one another via the surrounding medium. Such mediated polaron–polaron interactions have been directly observed and are shown to depend on the quantum statistics of the impurities.

  • Article |

    The high inelastic loss rate in gases of bosonic molecules has so far hindered the stabilization needed to reach quantum degeneracy. Now, an experiment using microwave shielding demonstrates a large reduction of losses for bosonic dipolar molecules.

    • Niccolò Bigagli
    • , Claire Warner
    •  & Sebastian Will

  • News & Views |

    A new binding mechanism between trapped laser-cooled ions and atoms has been observed. This advancement offers a novel control knob over chemical reactions and inelastic processes on the single particle limit.

    • Pascal Weckesser

  • Article |

    The formation of molecules in binary particle collisions is forbidden in free space, but the presence of an external trapping potential now enables the realization of bound states in ultracold atom–ion collisions.

    • Meirav Pinkas
    • , Or Katz
    •  & Roee Ozeri

  • Article |

    Many applications of ultracold molecules require high densities that have been difficult to reach. An experiment now demonstrates the tight magnetic confinement of ultracold molecules, enabling the study of molecular collisions in the quantum regime.

    • Juliana J. Park
    • , Yu-Kun Lu
    •  & Wolfgang Ketterle

  • Research Briefing |

    The collective dynamics observed between Bose-condensed atoms and molecules indicate the occurence of macroscopic quantum phenomena. Experimental investigations found that the atomic and molecular populations oscillate at a frequency that scales with the sample size, providing evidence for bosonic enhancement. These findings could make many-body quantum dynamics accessible in ultracold molecule research.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thouless pumping is the quantization of charge transport through the adiabatic variation of a system’s parameters. The robustness and breakdown of pumping under variations in interparticle interactions have now been shown with ultracold atoms in an optical lattice.

    • Anne-Sophie Walter
    • , Zijie Zhu
    •  & Tilman Esslinger

  • Article |

    The study and control of chemical reactions between atoms and molecules at quantum degeneracy is an outstanding problem in quantum chemistry. An experiment now reports the coherent and collective reactions of atomic and molecular Bose–Einstein condensates.

    • Zhendong Zhang
    • , Shu Nagata
    •  & Cheng Chin

  • Research Briefing |

    Most quantum processors rely on native interactions between pairs of qubits to generate quantum entangling gates. Now, by modulating the driving laser fields, gates that entangle a triplet or quartet of trapped-ion qubits have been realized, creating useful new components for quantum computing applications.

  • Article |

    Generation of entanglement in quantum computers stems from the native interactions between qubits, which are usually restricted to the pairwise limit. A method to control three- and four-body interactions has now been demonstrated with trapped ions.

    • Or Katz
    • , Lei Feng
    •  & Marko Cetina

  • News & Views |

    Laser cooling of neutral and positively charged ions is well mastered, but cooling of anions remains largely unexplored. Now, laser-induced evaporative cooling of negatively charged molecules has been achieved.

    • Daniel Comparat
    •  & Hans Lignier

  • Article |

    A common technique to cool down molecular ions is through collisions with a buffer gas, but that is limited by the achievable temperature of the medium. Now, an experiment demonstrates the evaporative cooling of molecular ions below previously reached temperatures.

    • Jonas Tauch
    • , Saba Z. Hassan
    •  & Matthias Weidemüller

  • Article |

    Engineering the frequency spectrum of systems of multiple quantum emitters is the key for many quantum technologies. A cavity quantum electrodynamics experiment now demonstrates the real-time frequency modulation of cavity-protected polaritons.

    • Mohamed Baghdad
    • , Pierre-Antoine Bourdel
    •  & Romain Long

  • Article |

    The scaling of entanglement entropy and mutual information is key for the understanding of correlated states of matter. An experiment now reports the measurement of von Neumann entropy and mutual information in a quantum field simulator.

    • Mohammadamin Tajik
    • , Ivan Kukuljan
    •  & Jörg Schmiedmayer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The realization of ultracold molecules in higher bands of an optical lattice sets the stage for the study of the interplay between orbital physics and the Bose–Einstein condensation and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superfluidity crossover.

    • Yann Kiefer
    • , Max Hachmann
    •  & Andreas Hemmerich

  • News & Views |

    Controlling the response of a material to light at the single-atom level is a key factor for many quantum technologies. An experiment now shows how to control the optical properties of an atomic array by manipulating the state of a single atom.

    • Rivka Bekenstein
    •  & Susanne F. Yelin

  • News & Views |

    Boson sampling is a benchmark problem for photonic quantum computers and a potential avenue towards quantum advantage. A scheme to realize a boson sampler based on the vibrational modes in a chain of trapped ions instead has now been demonstrated.

    • Norbert M. Linke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The realization of efficient light–matter interfaces is important for many quantum technologies. An experiment now shows how to coherently switch the collective optical properties of an array of quantum emitters by driving a single ancilla atom to a Rydberg state.

    • Kritsana Srakaew
    • , Pascal Weckesser
    •  & Johannes Zeiher

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