Engineering an Atomically Thin Superfluid with Adrian del Maestro

As the spatial dimension is lowered, locally stabilizing interactions between atoms are reduced, leading to the emergence of quantum fluctuating phases of matter without classical analogues. In this talk I will discuss theoretical progress and experimental proposals for the realization of a two-dimensional quantum liquid. Bosonic atoms deposited on an atomically thin substrate represent an arena for such exotic quantum many-body physics with highly tunable interaction potentials. I will show that simple mechanical deformations of the substrate can unlock a plethora of two-dimensional solid and superfluid states, and discuss protocols for how these could be realized in the laboratory through lattice expansion.

This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund.