Dipolar quantum solids emerging in a Hubbard quantum simulator

Lin Su (), Alexander Douglas, Michal Szurek, Robin Groth, S. Furkan Ozturk, Aaron Krahn, Anne H. Hébert, Gregory A. Phelps, Sepehr Ebadi, Susannah Dickerson, Francesca Ferlaino, Ognjen Marković and Markus Greiner ()
Additional contact information
Lin Su: Harvard University
Alexander Douglas: Harvard University
Michal Szurek: Harvard University
Robin Groth: Harvard University
S. Furkan Ozturk: Harvard University
Aaron Krahn: Harvard University
Anne H. Hébert: Harvard University
Gregory A. Phelps: Harvard University
Sepehr Ebadi: Harvard University
Susannah Dickerson: Harvard University
Francesca Ferlaino: Universität Innsbruck
Ognjen Marković: Harvard University
Markus Greiner: Harvard University

Nature, 2023, vol. 622, issue 7984, 724-729

Abstract: Abstract In quantum mechanical many-body systems, long-range and anisotropic interactions promote rich spatial structure and can lead to quantum frustration, giving rise to a wealth of complex, strongly correlated quantum phases1. Long-range interactions play an important role in nature; however, quantum simulations of lattice systems have largely not been able to realize such interactions. A wide range of efforts are underway to explore long-range interacting lattice systems using polar molecules2–5, Rydberg atoms2,6–8, optical cavities9–11 or magnetic atoms12–15. Here we realize novel quantum phases in a strongly correlated lattice system with long-range dipolar interactions using ultracold magnetic erbium atoms. As we tune the dipolar interaction to be the dominant energy scale in our system, we observe quantum phase transitions from a superfluid into dipolar quantum solids, which we directly detect using quantum gas microscopy with accordion lattices. Controlling the interaction anisotropy by orienting the dipoles enables us to realize a variety of stripe-ordered states. Furthermore, by transitioning non-adiabatically through the strongly correlated regime, we observe the emergence of a range of metastable stripe-ordered states. This work demonstrates that novel strongly correlated quantum phases can be realized using long-range dipolar interactions in optical lattices, opening the door to quantum simulations of a wide range of lattice models with long-range and anisotropic interactions.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06614-3

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