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Atomic physics

A route to quantum magnetism

Nature volume 472, pages 301–302 (2011)Cite this article

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The trend towards using ultracold atoms as simulators of condensed-matter and many-body phenomena is gaining momentum. These systems can now be used to simulate quantum magnetism. See Article p.307

At nanokelvin temperatures — 100 billion times closer to absolute zero than room temperature — ultracold atoms are the coldest stuff in the known Universe. At such low temperatures, these quantum gases, each consisting of hundreds to hundreds of millions of atoms, are quintessential quantum many-body systems. Unlike their more conventional solid-state cousins, nearly every property of quantum gases can be controlled1 in the laboratory with unprecedented flexibility and exquisite precision.

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Figure 1: The principle of Simon and colleagues' effective spin model2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ian B. Spielman is at the Joint Quantum Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899–8424, USA.,

    Ian B. Spielman

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  1. Ian B. Spielman
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Correspondence to Ian B. Spielman.

Additional information

This article and the paper under discussion2 were published online on 13 April 2011.

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Spielman, I. A route to quantum magnetism. Nature 472, 301–302 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10101

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