光晶格中玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的自旋和磁研究

近年应用光晶格（optical lattice)控制原子玻色－爱因斯坦凝聚体（BEC）的研究取得了突破性的进展。德国Munich研究小组首次在三维光晶格中观察到了超冷原子从BEC超流状态向Mott insulator状态的量子相变。这样的量子相变现象不仅具有重大的理论研究价值，而且为BEC的实际应用提供了新的途径。文章介绍了作者近来在光晶格中BEC的自旋和磁特性方面的一些研究进展，并探讨了它们在磁传感器及量子计算中的可能应用。

SPIN AND MAGNETISM OF BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATES IN AN OPTICAL LATTICE

Recently, experiments on Bose|Einstein condensates (BECs) confined in an optical lattice have made breakthroughs. A research group in Munich has demonstrated for the first time the quantum phase transition of a superfluid state to the Mott insulator state of a BEC confined in a 3D optical lattice. Such a quantum phase transition is not only fundamentally profound, but also provides new access to applications of BECs. This paper reports our recent theoretical work on the spin dynamics and magnetism of BECs confined in an optical lattice, and explores their possible applications in atomic magnetic sensors and quantum computation.