Experimental realization of plaquette resonating valence bond states with ultracold atoms in optical superlattices

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the experimental creation and control of plaquette resonating valence bond states using ultracold atoms in optical superlattices, providing insights into quantum resonance phenomena.

Contribution

It presents the first direct experimental evidence of valence bond resonance with ultracold atoms and shows how to create and characterize small-scale RVB states with specific symmetries.

Findings

Experimental realization of plaquette RVB states

Control over s- and d-wave symmetry states

Potential for creating many-body RVB states

Abstract

The concept of valence bond resonance plays a fundamental role in the theory of the chemical bond and is believed to lie at the heart of many-body quantum physical phenomena. Here we show direct experimental evidence of a time-resolved valence bond quantum resonance with ultracold bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. By means of a superlattice structure we create a three-dimensional array of independent four-site plaquettes, which we can fully control and manipulate in parallel. Moreover, we show how small-scale plaquette resonating valence bond states with s- and d-wave symmetry can be created and characterized. We anticipate our findings to open the path towards the creation and analysis of many-body RVB states in ultracold atomic gases.