Sunday, February 17, 2013
Room 308 (Hynes Convention Center)
Interaction blockades occur when interactions block particles from accessible quantum states. These reveal the ugranular nature of quantum systems, with applications ranging from single-electron transistors to quantum logic gates. We report blockades that occur between orbitals of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice: orbital excitation blockade (OEB). We demonstrate algorithmic cooling of quantum gases using OEB: selective removal of entropy from the gas. Reference: Nature 480, 500 (2011)