QUANTUM TRANSPORT WITH COLD ATOMS

Abstract

Cold atom technology poses a powerful platform to study the transport of quantum matter. The interaction between atoms, the type of atoms and their confinement can be designed to simulate quantum transport phenomena that are often difficult to realize within solid state devices. Recent advances in light-shaping techniques make it possible to engineer circuits of flowing atoms while freely adjusting the circuit geometry. Using these methods, we study fundamental questions about quantum transport in various types of atomic circuits. The current flowing through ring systems attached to leads are known to be modulated by applied gauge fields. We show that this so-called Aharonov-Bohm effect is absent for bosonic atoms. Within atomic Y-junctions, we find negative reflections that resemble Andreev-reflections known from metal-superconductor interfaces. Further, we show that topological pumping within atomic ring systems can be used to create highly entangled NOON states. Finally, we study a phase transition in the current configurations of two atomic rings with an applied gauge field. The results of this thesis can be implemented in state-of-the-art cold atom experiments to improve our understanding of quantum transport and to build novel quantum devices.