Factor of 1000 suppression of the depolarization rate in ultracold thulium collisions

Physical Review Research 2026 Open access

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Authors: I. A. Pyrkh, A. E. Rudnev, D. A. Kumpilov, I. S. Cojocaru, Vladimir Khlebnikov, P. A. Aksentsev, Ayrat Ibrahimov, Kirill O. Frolov, S. A. Kuzmin, Anna K. Zykova, D. A. Pershin, V. V. Tsyganok
+1 more A. V. Akimov
DOI: 10.1103/k1mv-1y2j
Cited by: 0
References: 60

Abstract

Lanthanides are nowadays extensively used to investigate the properties of strongly correlated matter. Nevertheless, exploiting the Zeeman manifold of a lanthanide atom ground state is challenging due to the unavoidable presence of depolarization collisions. Here, we demonstrate that in the case of the thulium atom, it is possible to suppress this depolarization by a factor of 1000 with a carefully tuned magnetic field, thus opening the way for the efficient use of the Zeeman manifold in quantum simulations.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research Advanced Frequency and Time Standards

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical Review Research
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Volume
8
Issue
1
Publication date
2 February 2026
Language
EN