Summer School 2026

Experiments with Ultracold Gases of (Magnetic) Atoms

Lauriane Chomaz

Ultracold quantum gases of neutral atoms provide one of the most
versatile and precisely controlled platforms for exploring quantum
physics. Over the past few decades, advances in cooling, trapping, and
imaging techniques have enabled the preparation and manipulation of
atomic systems with an unprecedented degree of control over their
geometry, dimensionality, and interactions. These capabilities have
allowed the investigation of fundamental quantum phenomena ranging from
few-body physics to strongly correlated many-body systems, including
exotic quantum phase and quantum phase transitions, topological matter,
and nonequilibrium dynamics. They have more generally enabled landmark
advances in quantum simulation, quantum metrology, quantum information,
and quantum computation.

In this lecture series, I will start by introducing the experimental
methods underlying this field, including laser cooling, optical dipole
trapping, evaporative cooling, and (single-atom) imaging. In the second
lecture, I will then tackle the central theme of interatomic
interactions. I will present their microscopic origin, their simplified
modelling in the regime of ultracold gases, and their experimental
tuning. The final lecture will focus more specifically on magnetic atoms
with strong dipole-dipole interactions. These gases exhibit a wealth of
novel quantum phenomena, including new phases of matter such as quantum
droplets, quantum solids, and supersolids, illustrating how tailored
interactions can lead to the emergence of new forms of quantum matter.