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Quantum transport

Spins on the move

Nature Physics volume 9, pages 209–210 (2013)Cite this article

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Recently developed experimental and theoretical tools uncover the complex and unexpected behaviour of impurities propagating through an ensemble of ultracold atoms.

The propagation of impurities in a bath of particles is one of the most fundamental transport processes in nature. Be it the flux of nutrient matter in biological systems, the distribution of dust particles and viruses in the air or the quantum motion of charge carriers in solid state devices, the transport properties of the impurity ultimately determine the fate of the whole system. However, understanding the basic transport mechanisms sometimes proves challenging. In superconducting devices, for example, the direct observation of the elementary propagation of single spins or charge carriers is extremely difficult — the reason being that these processes occur both on ultra-short timescales and very small length-scales. New methods and alternative approaches to studying the underlying physics are therefore essential.

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Figure 1: Illustration of possible mobile spin impurities.

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  1. Patrick Windpassinger is at the Institute for Laser Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 22761, Germany,

    Patrick Windpassinger

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  1. Patrick Windpassinger
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Correspondence to Patrick Windpassinger.

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Windpassinger, P. Spins on the move. Nature Phys 9, 209–210 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2568

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2568

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