Bragg Scattering as a Probe of Atomic Wavefunctions and Quantum Phase Transitions in Optical Lattices

Hirokazu Miyake, Georgios A. Siviloglou, Graciana Puentes +3

We have observed Bragg scattering of photons from quantum degenerate ${}^{87}$Rb atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice. Bragg scattered light directly probes the microscopic c…