There are three research subjects in our laboratory. The first topic is to implement an ultra-precise inertial navigation system with cold atoms. Vehicle position can be estimated by using both accelerometers and gyroscopes. Such estimation on the self-position is called the inertial navigation which enables supplementing the satellite positioning such as GPS vulnerable to radio disturbance. The accuracy of the inertial navigation is restricted by the performance of a gyroscope. We are trying to improve the performance of gyroscope drastically using quantum de Broglie wave instead of the classical light wave.
The second topic is a quantum simulation with an optical lattice system, where Yb quantum gas microscope is the primary tool to investigate the condensed matter physics in the periodic potential. By using the quantum gas microscope, site-resolved imaging of single atoms becomes possible. One of our research goals is to deepen our understanding of superconductivity in cuprates.
The third topic is research about quantum magnetic gas. Recently we have succeeded in laser cooling new atomic species, i.e., Eu atoms. The magnetic moment of Eu atom is 7muB which is much larger than that of alkali atoms. One of our interests is investigating rich ground state phases originated from the spin-orbit coupling.