Full counting statistics of time-of-flight images

Abstract

Inspired by recent advances in cold atomic systems and non-equilibrium physics, we introduce a novel characterization scheme, the time of flight full counting statistics. We benchmark this method on an interacting one dimensional Bose gas, and show that there the time of flight image displays several universal regimes. Finite momentum fluctuations are observed at larger distances, where a crossover from exponential to Gamma distribution occurs upon decreasing momentum resolution. Zero momentum particles, on the other hand, obey a Gumbel distribution in the weakly interacting limit, characterizing the quantum fluctuations of the former quasi-condensate. Time of flight full counting statistics is demonstrated to capture thermalization processes after a quantum quench, and can be useful for characterizing exotic quantum states such as many-body localized systems or models of holography.