Laser-Induced Entangled Giant Quasi-Molecules in Optical Lattices

We analyze atom-atom interactions in optical lattices due to a laser-induced long-range interatomic force which prevails over the usual London-van der-Waals forces. This force, which can be generated by an intense laser field at a wavelength longer than that of the lattice-generating laser, is shown to bind pairs of cold atoms trapped at different lattice sites, and cause their translational quantum correlations (spatial entanglement).