In situ imaging of atomic quantum gases

Abstract

One exciting progress in recent cold atom experiments is the development of high resolution, in situ imaging techniques for atomic quantum gases [1-3]. These new powerful tools provide detailed information on the distribution of atoms in a trap with resolution approaching the level of single atom and even single lattice site, and complement the well developed time-of-flight method that probes the system in momentum space. In a condensed matter analogy, this technique is equivalent to locating electrons of a material in a snap shot. In situ imaging has offered a new powerful tool to study atomic gases and inspired many new research directions and ideas. In this chapter, we will describe the experimental setup of in situ absorption imaging, observables that can be extracted from the images, and new physics that can be explored with this technique.

20 pages, 9 figures. This article will be published as Chapter 6 in "Quantum gas experiments - exploring many-body states", edited by P. Törmä and K. Sengstock, Imperial College Press, London, to be published 2014