Molecular binding in interacting quantum walks

Andre Ahlbrecht, Andrea Alberti, Dieter Meschede, Volkher B. Scholz, Albert H. Werner, Reinhard F. Werner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We show that the presence of an interaction in the quantum walk of two atoms leads to the formation of a stable compound, a molecular state. The wave function of the molecule decays exponentially in the relative position of the two atoms; hence it constitutes a true bound state. Furthermore, for a certain class of interactions, we develop an effective theory and find that the dynamics of the molecule is described by a quantum walk in its own right. We propose a setup for the experimental realization as well as sketch the possibility to observe quasi-particle effects in quantum many-body systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number073050
JournalNew Journal of Physics
Volume14
ISSN1367-2630
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2012
Externally publishedYes

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