Combining Ultracold Atoms: Quantum Mixtures and Towards Polar Molecules

​The preparation and manipulation of ultracold atomic gases have led to several advances in the areas of quantum degenerate systems and precision measurement. Combining different types of atoms offer new scientific opportunities with quantum mixtures and ultracold molecules. We have produced quantum degenerate mixtures of ytterbium and lithium atoms. Such mixtures can be useful for studies of few- and many-body physics in mass-mismatched systems. Combinations of alkaline-earth-like and alkali atoms (such as ytterbium and lithium) also form the starting point for the production of quantum gases of paramagnetic polar molecules, which have applications in quantum simulation and precision tests of fundamental physics. I will report on our preparation of these new mixtures, our studies of the ground state scattering properties, and our observations of dynamics of Feshbach molecules. I will also briefly discuss another research effort towards a new measurement of the fine structure constant using atom interferometry with ytterbium Bose-Einstein condensates.