Dipolar effect in coherent spin mixing of two atoms in a single optical lattice site

Abstract

We show that atomic dipolar effects are detectable in the system that recently demonstrated two-atom coherent spin dynamics within individual lattice sites of a Mott state. Based on a two-state approximation for the two-atom internal states and relying on a variational approach, we have estimated the spin dipolar effect. Despite the absolute weakness of the dipole-dipole interaction, it is shown that it leads to experimentally observable effects in the spin mixing dynamics.

4 pages, 3 color eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett