Local Readout and Control of Current and Kinetic Energy Operators in Optical Lattices

Abstract

Quantum gas microscopes have revolutionized quantum simulations with ultracold atoms, allowing one to measure local observables and snapshots of quantum states. However, measurements so far were mostly carried out in the occupation basis. Here, we demonstrate how all kinetic operators, such as kinetic energy or current operators, can be measured and manipulated with single-bond resolution. Beyond simple expectation values of these observables, the single-shot measurements allow one to access full counting statistics and complex correlation functions. Our work paves the way for the implementation of efficient quantum state tomography and hybrid quantum computing protocols for itinerant particles on a lattice. In addition, we demonstrate how site-resolved programmable potentials enable a spatially selective, parallel readout in different bases as well as the engineering of arbitrary initial states.