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SUMMARY:Simulating the solid state with ultracold atom gases - Chris Hoole
 y (University of St Andrews)
DTSTART:20071016T130000Z
DTEND:20071016T140000Z
UID:TALK8820@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Robert Smith
DESCRIPTION:Since the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in ultraco
 ld atomic gases in 1995\, there has been a great deal of work on such syst
 ems.  One interesting line involves putting cold atoms into laser standing
  waves.\nThese standing waves mimic the periodic potential found in solids
 \, with the atoms playing the role of the electrons.\n\nHowever\, the anal
 ogy is not direct.  One of the reasons for this is that the cold-atom syst
 ems are finite and inhomogeneous\, whereas the solid-state systems are (ne
 ar-as-dammit-)infinite and homogeneous.  In this talk\, I shall discuss va
 rious issues arising from these differences\, and propose an experimental 
 scheme to make truly useful "quantum simulators" in this cold-atom context
 .\n\nMuch of what I will say\, including simulations of the proposed exper
 iment\, is discussed in a recent preprint\, arXiv:0705.3680.\n
LOCATION:Mott Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Department of Physics
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