Abstract
The interplay of magnetic exchange interactions and tunneling underlies many complex quantum phenomena observed in real materials. We study nonequilibrium magnetization dynamics in an extended two-dimensional (2D) system by loading effective spin-1/2 bosons into a spin-dependent optical lattice and use the lattice to separately control the resonance conditions for tunneling and superexchange. After preparing a nonequilibrium antiferromagnetically ordered state, we observe relaxation dynamics governed by two wellseparated rates, which scale with the parameters associated with superexchange and tunneling. With tunneling off-resonantly suppressed, we observe superexchange-dominated dynamics over two orders of magnitude in magnetic coupling strength. Our experiment will serve as a benchmark for future theoretical work as the detailed dynamics of this 2D, strongly correlated, and far-from-equilibrium quantum system remain out of reach of current computational techniques.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 540-544 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 348 |
Issue number | 6234 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General