Search results for "cold atom"
showing 10 items of 54 documents
Spectroscopy of an ultracold Rydberg gas and signatures of Rydberg–Rydberg interactions
2005
We report on experiments on Rydberg–Rydberg interaction-induced effects in a gas of 87Rb Rydberg atoms. A compact setup for two-photon continuous-wave excitation of high-lying Rydberg states out of an ultracold atomic gas is presented. The performance of the apparatus is characterized by high-resolution spectroscopy of Rydberg states. Signatures of interaction-induced effects are identified by qualitatively analysing the dependence of Rydberg excitation spectra on the intensity and the duration of the second-step laser excitation.
The coupling of the X1Σ+and a3Σ+states of the atom pair Na + Cs and modelling cold collisions
2006
The states X1?+ and a3?+ correlated to the ground-state asymptote of Na (3s) and Cs (6s) atoms have been experimentally investigated using high resolution Fourier-transform spectroscopy. The hyperfine splitting of the a3?+ state levels is partially resolved. Transitions to asymptotic vibrational levels of the a3?+ and X1?+ states were recorded simultaneously. The joint evaluation of the data of both the a3?+ and the X1?+ states allows us to determine accurate potential energy curves of both electronic states. Coupled-channels calculations are finally applied for deriving long range dispersion parameters and the exchange contribution of the molecular potentials, yielding a reliable descripti…
Exploring Interacting Topological Insulators with Ultracold Atoms: The Synthetic Creutz-Hubbard Model
2016
25 pags., 13 figs. -- Open Access funded by Creative Commons Atribution Licence 4.0
Nonlinear effects in optical pumping of a cold and slow atomic beam
2015
By photoionizing hyperfine (HF) levels of the Cs state $6{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ in a slow and cold atom beam, we find how their population depends on the excitation laser power. The long time (around $180\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s})$ spent by the slow atoms inside the resonant laser beam is large enough to enable exploration of a unique atom-light interaction regime heavily affected by time-dependent optical pumping. We demonstrate that, under such conditions, the onset of nonlinear effects in the population dynamics and optical pumping occurs at excitation laser intensities much smaller than the conventional respective saturation values. The ev…
Highly stable Zerodur based optical benches for microgravity applications and other adverse environments
2019
A number of cold atom experiments are restrained by the impeding effects of gravity. While efforts have been made to overcome these limitations in a gravitational environment, another approach is placing the experiment in a microgravity environment, as can be found aboard sounding rockets, satellites or a space station. The cornerstone of such experiments is a robust laser system. The adverse conditions during a rocket launch impose stringent requirements on thermal stability and resilience against mechanical stress on this part of the experimental setup. Furthermore, the very limited space found on any of the aforementioned microgravity platforms necessitates maximal miniaturization. In or…
Photon Production from the Vacuum Close to the Superradiant Transition: Linking the Dynamical Casimir Effect to the Kibble-Zurek Mechanism
2012
The dynamical Casimir effect (DCE) predicts the generation of photons from the vacuum due to the parametric amplification of the quantum fluctuations of an electromagnetic field. The verification of such an effect is still elusive in optical systems due to the very demanding requirements of its experimental implementation. We show that an ensemble of two-level atoms collectively coupled to the electromagnetic field of a cavity, driven at low frequencies and close to a quantum phase transition, stimulates the production of photons from the vacuum. This paves the way to an effective simulation of the DCE through a mechanism that has recently found experimental demonstration. The spectral prop…
Geometric phases and criticality in spin chain systems
2005
A relation between geometric phases and criticality of spin chains is established. As a result, we show how geometric phases can be exploited as a tool to detect regions of criticality without having to undergo a quantum phase transition. We analytically evaluate the geometric phase that correspond to the ground and excited states of the anisotropic XY model in the presence of a transverse magnetic field when the direction of the anisotropy is adiabatically rotated. Ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices are presented as a possible physical realization.
Tunable Polarons in Bose-Einstein Condensates
2017
A toolbox for the quantum simulation of polarons in ultracold atoms is presented. Motivated by the impressive experimental advances in the area of ultracold atomic mixtures, we theoretically study the problem of ultracold atomic impurities immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate mixture (BEC). The coupling between impurity and BEC gives rise to the formation of polarons whose mutual interaction can be effectively tuned using an external laser driving a quasi-resonant Raman transition between the BEC components. Our scheme allows one to change the effective interactions between polarons in different sites from attractive to zero. This is achieved by simply changing the intensity and the frequ…
Trapping cold atoms using surface-grown carbon nanotubes
2008
We present a feasibility study for loading cold atomic clouds into magnetic traps created by single-wall carbon nanotubes grown directly onto dielectric surfaces. We show that atoms may be captured for experimentally sustainable nanotube currents, generating trapped clouds whose densities and lifetimes are sufficient to enable detection by simple imaging methods. This opens the way for a different type of conductor to be used in atomchips, enabling atom trapping at submicron distances, with implications for both fundamental studies and for technological applications.