Observation of local temporal correlations in trapped quantum gases

TL;DR

This paper experimentally measures local temporal correlations in trapped quantum gases, revealing insights into their dynamics and interactions through in situ techniques and theoretical modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a novel in situ, time-resolved measurement of local temporal correlations in ultracold gases, including higher-order functions, and compares results with a developed theoretical model.

Findings

Good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment.

Temporal correlations serve as new observables for quantum gas dynamics.

Interactions significantly influence the measured correlations.

Abstract

We measure the temporal pair correlation function $g^{(2)}(\tau)$ of a trapped gas of bosons above and below the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation. The measurement is performed {\it in situ} using a local, time-resolved single-atom sensitive probing technique. Third and fourth order correlation functions are also extracted. We develop a theoretical model and compare it with our experimental data, finding good quantitative agreement and highlighting the role of interactions. Our results promote temporal correlations as new observables to study the dynamics of ultracold quantum gases.