Ion Coulomb crystals: an exotic form of condensed matter
- URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2508.07374v1
- Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2025 14:49:37 GMT
- Title: Ion Coulomb crystals: an exotic form of condensed matter
- Authors: Giovanna Morigi, John Bollinger, Michael Drewsen, Daniel Podolsky, Efrat Shimshoni,
- Abstract summary: Wigner crystals formed by laser-cooled ions in traps are unconventional condensed-matter systems.<n>Their crystalline structure emerges from the interplay between Coulomb repulsion and the external confining potential.
- Score: 0.0
- License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Abstract: Wigner crystals formed by laser-cooled ions in traps are unconventional condensed-matter systems, characterized by interparticle distances of several micrometers and energy scales on the order of $\mu$eV. Their crystalline structure emerges from the interplay between Coulomb repulsion and the external confining potential, which can be readily tuned. Moreover, individual ions can be precisely manipulated with lasers and imaged via resonance fluorescence. These unusual and unique properties make ion crystals a powerful platform for studying phases of matter and their dynamics in the strongly correlated quantum regime. This review examines the theoretical framework and experimental characterization of ion Coulomb crystals from a condensed-matter perspective. We highlight their dynamical and thermodynamic properties in one, two, and three dimensions, along with recent investigations into their out-of-equilibrium behavior. We provide outlooks on future directions for exploring novel condensed matter phenomena with trapped ion crystals, as well as their many scientific and technical applications, which have driven advances in controlling and measuring ion crystals in the lab.
Related papers
- Robust AC vector sensing at zero magnetic field with pentacene [45.7221176995052]
Quantum sensors based on electronic spins have emerged as powerful probes of microwave-frequency fields.<n>Here, we demonstrate microwave vector magnetometry using the photoexcited spin triplet of pentacene molecules.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2025-12-06T03:49:12Z) - High quality quasinormal modes of phononic crystals for quantum acoustodynamics [39.58317527488534]
We propose a structure consisting of a phononic crystal placed between the Bragg mirrors.<n>This structure has a Q-factor 60 times higher than that of an acoustic crystal of the same size.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2024-12-17T10:56:29Z) - In-situ-tunable spin-spin interactions in a Penning trap with in-bore
optomechanics [41.94295877935867]
We present an optomechanical system for in-situ tuning of the coherent spin-motion and spin-spin interaction strength.
We characterize the system using measurements of the induced mean-field spin precession.
These experiments show approximately a $times2$ variation in the ratio of the coherent to incoherent interaction strength.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2024-01-31T11:00:39Z) - Quench dynamics in higher-dimensional Holstein models: Insights from Truncated Wigner Approaches [41.94295877935867]
We study the melting of charge-density waves in a Holstein model after a sudden switch-on of the electronic hopping.
A comparison with exact data obtained for a Holstein chain shows that a semiclassical treatment of both the electrons and phonons is required in order to correctly describe the phononic dynamics.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-12-19T16:14:01Z) - Bilayer crystals of trapped ions for quantum information processing [0.0]
We show that Penning traps can be used to realize remarkably clean bilayer crystals, wherein hundreds of ions self-organize into two well-defined layers.
These bilayer crystals are made possible by the inclusion of an anharmonic trapping potential.
We illustrate that it may be possible to extend the ideas presented here to realize multilayer crystals with more than two layers.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-12-17T10:51:00Z) - Directional spontaneous emission in photonic crystal slabs [49.1574468325115]
Spontaneous emission is a fundamental out-of-equilibrium process in which an excited quantum emitter relaxes to the ground state due to quantum fluctuations.
One way to modify these photon-mediated interactions is to alter the dipole radiation patterns of the emitter, e.g., by placing photonic crystals near them.
Our study delves into the interaction between these directional emission patterns and the aforementioned variables, revealing the untapped potential to fine-tune collective quantum optical phenomena.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-12-04T15:35:41Z) - Crystal-GFN: sampling crystals with desirable properties and constraints [103.79058968784163]
We introduce Crystal-GFN, a generative model of crystal structures that sequentially samples structural properties of crystalline materials.
In this paper, we use as objective the formation energy per atom of a crystal structure predicted by a new proxy machine learning model trained on MatBench.
The results demonstrate that Crystal-GFN is able to sample highly diverse crystals with low (median -3.1 eV/atom) predicted formation energy.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-10-07T21:36:55Z) - Investigations of 2D ion crystals in a hybrid optical cavity trap for
quantum information processing [0.5461938536945723]
We numerically investigate a hybrid trapping architecture for 2D ion crystals using static electrode voltages and optical cavity fields.
These 2D ion crystals offer an excellent platform for quantum simulation of frustrated spin systems.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-08-18T01:25:25Z) - Thermal masses and trapped-ion quantum spin models: a self-consistent approach to Yukawa-type interactions in the $λ\!φ^4$ model [44.99833362998488]
A quantum simulation of magnetism in trapped-ion systems makes use of the crystal vibrations to mediate pairwise interactions between spins.
These interactions can be accounted for by a long-wavelength relativistic theory, where the phonons are described by a coarse-grained Klein-Gordon field.
We show that thermal effects, which can be controlled by laser cooling, can unveil this flow through the appearance of thermal masses in interacting QFTs.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-05-10T12:59:07Z) - Controlling two-dimensional Coulomb crystals of more than 100 ions in a
monolithic radio-frequency trap [0.0]
We present experiments with planar Coulomb crystals of about 100 $40$Ca$+$ ions in a novel monolithic radio-frequency trap.
We characterize the trapping potential by analysis of crystal images and compare the observed crystal configurations with numerical simulations.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2023-02-01T16:38:11Z) - Crystalline Phases of Laser-Driven Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensates [0.0]
We study the emergent crystallization of a laser-driven dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate.
The competition between these two interactions results in a collective excitation spectrum with two roton minima.
We find that both rotons can also soften simultaneously, resulting in the formation of exotic, complex periodic or aperiodic density patterns.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2022-07-04T18:01:58Z) - Piezo-orbital backaction force in a rare-earth doped crystal [0.0]
We investigate a system composed of an ensemble of room temperature rare-earth ions embedded in a bulk crystal.
We find this motion to be the sum of two fundamental, resonant optomechanical backaction processes.
New interactions may be key for understanding the dephasing dynamics of ultra-coherent rare-earth ions.
arXiv Detail & Related papers (2021-09-14T10:53:03Z)
This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.
This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.