Thermometry in a two-component Mott insulator

Ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices offer a promising testbed for simulation of many-body Hamiltonians. However, thermometry of atoms in optical lattices remains challenging. One possible solution is to take advantage of the additional degrees of freedom offered by a two-component Mott insulator. We will present the results of experiments involving thermometry and cooling in a Mott insulator of $^{87}$Rb atoms comprising a mixture of two different hyperfine states. State-selective polarization rotation imaging can be used in conjunction with a field gradient to directly image the Boltzmann distribution of the spin states.