Nanophotonics with ultracold atoms for simulating quantum many-body systems

Ultracold atoms in the so-called optical lattices, which are generated by crosswise superposition of laser beams, have been proven to be one of the most promising tools for simulating and understanding the behaviour of many-body systems such as solid crystals - for example, with respect to their electric or magnetic properties. However, the implementation in free space has some limitations such as the distance between the atoms (around 400 nm) and the short range of the interactions.