Magnetic super-exchange with ultra cold atoms in spin dependent optical lattices

Abstract

The methods of atomic physics offer a unique opportunity to study strongly correlated many body systems. It is possible to confine BECs in periodic optical lattices to form an analog of a solid state system. The study of these cold atoms in optical lattice systems may prove a very useful testing ground for novel states of matter, testing fundamental condensed matter theory, and may help illuminate a possible connection between the mechanism behind high temperature superconductivity and quantum magnetism. This thesis will focus on trapping cold bosonic atoms in spin dependent optical lattices to engineer a system that behaves according to the Hubbard model. By loading the atoms into a state dependent lattice, it may be possible to explore the full phase space of the Heisenberg model and see magnetic super exchange-driven magnetic ordering in a variety of lattice geometries. The aim of this thesis is primarily to explore some of the tools that may be needed accomplish this task.