Novel Techniques for Control and Detection of Ultracold Quantum Gases

We report on the progress of three novel techniques for studying ultracold quantum gases. First, we discuss our technique for measuring the structure factor of a 2D quantum gas and our progress towards using such measurements to perform local detection of thermodynamic quantities in the gas. Second, in order to create a flat potential or any other arbitrary potential, we explore the use of a high resolution objective to project a blue detuned laser onto the gas. By spatially patterning the laser with a digital micromirror device we create arbitrary optical potentials with $\sim$1 $\mu$m resolution. In addition, we report a general method to modify the band structure in an optical lattice by shaking the lattice. Condensates in the lattice can form domains with long-range ferromagnetic order.