Single shot imaging of trapped Fermi gas

TL;DR

This paper explores how high-resolution single shot measurements of ultra-cold Fermi gases reveal spatial correlations caused solely by the Pauli exclusion principle, uncovering unexpected atomic structures.

Contribution

It demonstrates that single shot measurements can detect intrinsic quantum correlations in non-interacting Fermi gases, highlighting effects of the Pauli principle.

Findings

Single shot measurements reveal spatial structures due to Pauli exclusion.

Correlations are observable without atomic interactions.

Unexpected atomic arrangements emerge from quantum statistics.

Abstract

Recently developed techniques allow for simultaneous measurements of the positions of all ultra cold atoms in a trap with high resolution. Each such single shot experiment detects one element of the quantum ensemble formed by the cloud of atoms. Repeated single shot measurements can be used to determine all correlations between particle positions as opposed to standard measurements that determine particle density or two-particle correlations only. In this paper we discuss the possible outcomes of such single shot measurements in case of cloud of ultra-cold non-interacting Fermi atoms. We show that the Pauli exclusion principle alone leads to correlations between particle positions that originate from unexpected spatial structures formed by the atoms.