Abstract
The complex collisional properties of atoms fundamentally limit investigations into a range of processes in many-atom ensembles. In contrast, the bottom-up assembly of few- and many-body systems from individual atoms offers a controlled approach to isolating and studying such collisional processes. Here, we use optical tweezers to individually assemble pairs of trapped 85Rb atoms, and study the spin dynamics of the two-body system in a thermal state. The spin-2 atoms show strong pair correlation between magnetic sublevels on timescales exceeding one second, with measured relative number fluctuations 11.9 ± 0.3 dB below quantum shot noise, limited only by detection efficiency. Spin populations display relaxation dynamics consistent with simulations and theoretical predictions for 85Rb spin interactions, and contrary to the coherent spin waves witnessed in finite-temperature many-body experiments and zero-temperature two-body experiments. Our experimental approach offers a versatile platform for studying two-body quantum dynamics and may provide a route to thermally robust entanglement generation.
Highlights
The complex collisional properties of atoms fundamentally limit investigations into a range of processes in many-atom ensembles
Once in the same optical tweezer, the two atoms interact via interaction Hamiltonian H^s, which depends on the pair’s relative position and spin state
From a theoretical perspective there should be entanglement in the spin sector despite the fact that we observe relaxation dynamics between the different spin states involved
Summary
The complex collisional properties of atoms fundamentally limit investigations into a range of processes in many-atom ensembles. In many-body experiments, spin-changing collisions lead to coherent spin waves in both quantum-degenerate and thermal atomic samples[9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. These spin waves manifest as timedependent populations of the atoms’ magnetic sublevels. The superfluid to Mott insulator transition provides one means of separating atomic pairs for ‘clean’ studies of spin-changing collisions[24,25] This is limited to atomic species with collisional properties suitable for Bose condensing and subsequent manipulation. To date such studies have been restricted to inelastic interactions that cause atom loss[29,30,31,32] and interactions where no overall population dynamics occur[33]
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