An Aubry-André localized optical lattice clock
Abstract
Optical lattice clocks in space could improve satellite navigation systems and enable new tests of fundamental physics, including gravitational-wave detection and tests of relativity. In microgravity, atoms can tunnel to degenerate neighboring lattice sites, broadening the clock transition and limiting coherence times. We demonstrate Aubry-André localization in a bichromatic optical lattice formed by two magic-wavelength lasers, suppressing tunneling in a horizontal lattice clock emulating free fall. We recover a Fourier-limited clock Rabi spectrum and measure Ramsey coherence times of up to 2 s in shallow lattices, with up to 100-fold improvement over the delocalized regime. These results establish Aubry-André localization as a practical route to controlling tunneling in future space-based clocks, and open a path to operating terrestrial clocks at shallower lattice depths.
Related
- Non-Markovian quantum-emitter dynamics and bound-state formation in an Aubry--André--Harper photonic lattice
- Fibonacci number systems and the localization criterion in the many-body Aubry-André model
- Statistical delocalization in the Anyonic Aubry-André model
- Aubry-André transition in photonic time quasicrystals
- Free-fermion spectral structure enables strange nonchaotic attractor classification in Aubry-Andre-Harper quantum reservoirs
BibTeX
@misc{ma2026aubryandré,
title = {{An Aubry-André localized optical lattice clock}},
author = {Shuo Ma and Anke Stöltzel and Bennett Christensen and Zhuoli Ding and Dhruva Ganapathy and Andrew Householder and Genyue Liu and Shimon Kolkowitz},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.17499},
eprint = {2610.17499},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17499},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - An Aubry-André localized optical lattice clock
AU - Shuo Ma
AU - Anke Stöltzel
AU - Bennett Christensen
AU - Zhuoli Ding
AU - Dhruva Ganapathy
AU - Andrew Householder
AU - Genyue Liu
AU - Shimon Kolkowitz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.17499
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17499
AB - Optical lattice clocks in space could improve satellite navigation systems and enable new tests of fundamental physics, including gravitational-wave detection and tests of relativity. In microgravity, atoms can tunnel to degenerate neighboring lattice sites, broadening the clock transition and limiting coherence times. We demonstrate Aubry-André localization in a bichromatic optical lattice formed by two magic-wavelength lasers, suppressing tunneling in a horizontal lattice clock emulating free fall. We recover a Fourier-limited clock Rabi spectrum and measure Ramsey coherence times of up to 2 s in shallow lattices, with up to 100-fold improvement over the delocalized regime. These results establish Aubry-André localization as a practical route to controlling tunneling in future space-based clocks, and open a path to operating terrestrial clocks at shallower lattice depths.
ER -