Atomic lattice excitons: from condensates to crystals

Abstract

We discuss atomic lattice excitons (ALEs), bound particle-hole pairs formed by fermionic atoms in two bands of an optical lattice. Such a system provides a clean setup to study fundamental properties of excitons, ranging from condensation to exciton crystals (which appear for a large effective mass ratio between particles and holes). Using both mean-field treatments and 1D numerical computation, we discuss the properities of ALEs under varying conditions, and discuss in particular their preparation and measurement.

19 pages, 15 figures, changed formatting for journal submission, corrected minor errors in reference list and text