Measuring Localization from Disorder and Strong Interactions: Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices

Understanding how disorder and inter-particle interactions conspire or compete to give rise to new quantum phases and dynamics is at the frontier of quantum many-particle physics. Ultracold atoms trapped in disordered optical lattices have emerged as an ideal platform for addressing these questions. In these experiments, disorder, interactions, dimensionality, and band structure can be tuned independently and characterized with high precision. I will explain how we and other groups use optical lattices to investigate versions of disordered Hubbard models, which are paradigms for strongly correlated electronic solids. Our measurements of a disorder-induced metal–insulator transition that is consistent with 3D many-body localization will be discussed. I will also highlight our recent measurements of a quantum quench of disorder across the Bose-glass–superfluid phase transition.