Collapse and revivals for systems of short-range phase coherence

We predict the existence of novel collapse and revival oscillations that are a distinctive signature of the short-range off-diagonal coherence. Starting with an atomic Mott state in a one-dimensional optical lattice, suddenly raising the lattice depth freezes particle–hole pairs in place and induces phase oscillations. The peak of the quasi-momentum distribution, revealed through time-of-ight interference, oscillates between a maximum occupation at zero quasi-momentum (the  point) and the edge of the Brillouin zone. We show that the population enhancements at the edge of the Brillouin zone are due to short-range coherence due to particle–hole pairs, and we nd similar effects for fermions and Bose– Fermi mixtures in a lattice. Our results open a new dynamic probe for strongly correlated many-body states with short-range phase coherence that is distinct from the matter–wave collapse and revivals previously observed in the long- range coherent superuid regime.