September 30, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Dr. Randy Hulet
Rice Center for Quantum Materials
ABSTRACT: We realize the Fermi-Hubbard model with spin-1/2 atomic fermions on an optical lattice. The lattice parameters, including the interaction strength and the tunnel coupling, are highly-tunable, and under appropriate conditions a Mott insulator with anti-ferromagnetic correlations is observed. Quantum simulation of high-temperature superconductivity is possible if temperatures can be reduced further, thus addressing major questions about the essential mechanisms responsible for pairing in these exotic materials.
BIOGRAPHY: Randall Hulet is the Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. He has received several awards, including the I.I. Rabi Prize of the American Physical Society, the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigators Award, a NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society (APS), and the Herbert Walther Award from the Optical Society of America and the German Physical Society. He is a Fellow of the APS and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Hulet is known for his contributions to atomic physics. He played a leading role in the development of laser cooling and trapping of atoms. His most important achievements are the first realization of Bose-Einstein condensation in an atomic gas with attractive interactions, the creation of a degenerate Fermi gas and the exploration of the BEC-BCS crossover, and the observation of antiferromagnetic correlations in the Fermi-Hubbard model using ultracold atoms.