Ultracold Atomic Kondo Impurities
Abstract
The Kondo effect is a famous discovery in condensed matter physics that underpins our theoretical and experimental understanding of systems with magnetic impurities. Under appropriate conditions the magnetic impurity is screened by a cloud of electrons in the material, resulting in increased scattering and resistivity at low temperatures. Some basic questions remain unanswered, however, such as the nature of this screening cloud, and the fate of lattices of Kondo impurities, which are believed to give rise to unconventional superconductivity in the so-called “heavy fermion” compounds. To bypass the challenges of direct experimental investigation with these materials, I propose a system to simulate the relevant physics using ultracold atoms. Building on the success of cold atom simulations for other condensed matter systems, I have designed a method to generate spin-exchange interactions between two different species. The result will be a unique quantum simulator capable of addressing a large class of problems currently inaccessible to the cold atom community. One species (133Cs) will act as impurities, and another species (6Li) will act as the Fermi sea. I anticipate that this system will exhibit the Kondo effect, which will manifest as an increase in scattering at low temperatures. I also propose to use the spin-exchange interactions to transfer entropy to the impurity spins, where it will be removed permanently by optical pumping. The system can be extended to explore the physics of the Kondo lattice, where it will be a highly tunable probe for novel phases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 2018
- Source ID
- FA95501810047
Entities
People
- Colin Parker
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- United States Air Force