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Atomic and molecular physics it the study of the properties, dynamics and interactions of the basic (but not fundamental) building blocks of matter. A crucial component of this is understanding the behaviour of the electrons that surround the atomic nucleus; these dynamics dominate the way atoms and molecules interact with their environment.
Sub-cycle confinement and control of phase transitions in strongly correlated materials are theoretically demonstrated, potentially providing a way to investigate electron dynamics on timescales previously unattainable with these materials.
Confining atoms to lattices can modify their interaction and collision. Here the authors show suppression of dipolar relaxation in the form of reduced decay rate of dysprosium atoms in quasi-2D regime.
Precision measurements with atom interferometers benefit from reducing the expansion rate of the atomic ensemble within the interferometric beam through matter-wave collimation. Here we demonstrate a collimation method based on time-averaged optical potentials and tunable interactions, realizing expansion energies of a few hundred picokelvin.
Sea-based optical clocks combining a molecular iodine spectrometer, fibre frequency comb and electronics for monitoring and control demonstrate high precision in a smaller volume than active hydrogen masers.
Electron capture in 163Ho can be used to determine the electron neutrino mass. The Q value of this process is crucial for the evaluation of the systematic uncertainty in such a measurement, and a 50-fold improvement is now reported.
Sub-cycle confinement and control of phase transitions in strongly correlated materials are theoretically demonstrated, potentially providing a way to investigate electron dynamics on timescales previously unattainable with these materials.
Typically thought of as inert and non-participating atoms, noble gasses adsorbed onto freshly cleaved single crystal surfaces enhance their electronic band structures, potentially creating more active heterogeneous catalysts.
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.
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.
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.