Achim Rosch, University of Cologne
The manipulation of atoms in optical lattices offers a unique possiblity to study collective effects of strongly interacting particles. They can, for example, be used to simulate the physics of the Mott metal-insulator transition, one of the most dramatic effects in solid state physics, where particles get localized by strong interactions. We compare our calculations to recent experiments and argue that new states of matter can be realized in non-equilibrium experiments.