Implementing quantum electrodynamics with ultracold atomic systems

We discuss the experimental engineering of model systems for the description of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in one spatial dimension via a mixture of bosonic 23Na and fermionic 6Li atoms. The local gauge symmetry is realized in an optical superlattice, using heteronuclear boson–fermion spin-changing interactions which preserve the total spin in every local collision. We consider a large number of bosons residing in the coherent state of a...