1,250 research outputs found
Superpositions of the Orbital Angular Momentum for Applications in Quantum Experiments
Two different experimental techniques for preparation and analyzing
superpositions of the Gaussian and Laguerre-Gassian modes are presented. This
is done exploiting an interferometric method on the one hand and using computer
generated holograms on the other hand. It is shown that by shifting the
hologram with respect to an incoming Gaussian beam different superpositions of
the Gaussian and the Laguerre-Gaussian beam can be produced. An analytical
expression between the relative phase and the amplitudes of the modes and the
displacement of the hologram is given. The application of such orbital angular
momenta superpositions in quantum experiments such as quantum cryptography is
discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. to appear in Journal of Optics
Analyzing a Bose polaron across resonant interactions
Recently, two independent experiments reported the observation of long-lived
polarons in a Bose-Einstein condensate, providing an excellent setting to study
the generic scenario of a mobile impurity interacting with a quantum reservoir.
Here, we expand the experimental analysis by disentangling the effects of trap
inhomogeneities and the many-body continuum in one of these experiments. This
makes it possible to extract the energy of the polaron at a well-defined
density as a function of the interaction strength. Comparisons with quantum
Monte-Carlo as well as diagrammatic calculations show good agreement, and
provide a more detailed picture of the polaron properties at stronger
interactions than previously possible. Moreover, we develop a semi-classical
theory for the motional dynamics and three-body loss of the polarons, which
partly explains a previously unresolved discrepancy between theory and
experimental observations for repulsive interactions. Finally, we utilize
quantum Monte-Carlo calculations to demonstrate that the findings reported in
the two experiments are consistent with each other
Interaction-free measurements by quantum Zeno stabilisation of ultracold atoms
Quantum mechanics predicts that our physical reality is influenced by events
that can potentially happen but factually do not occur. Interaction-free
measurements (IFMs) exploit this counterintuitive influence to detect the
presence of an object without requiring any interaction with it. Here we
propose and realize an IFM concept based on an unstable many-particle system.
In our experiments, we employ an ultracold gas in an unstable spin
configuration which can undergo a rapid decay. The object - realized by a laser
beam - prevents this decay due to the indirect quantum Zeno effect and thus,
its presence can be detected without interacting with a single atom. Contrary
to existing proposals, our IFM does not require single-particle sources and is
only weakly affected by losses and decoherence. We demonstrate confidence
levels of 90%, well beyond previous optical experiments.Comment: manuscript with 5 figures, 3 supplementary figure, 1 supplementary
not
Spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry in spinor condensates
Parametric amplification of quantum fluctuations constitutes a fundamental
mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking. In our experiments, a spinor
condensate acts as a parametric amplifier of spin modes, resulting in a twofold
spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry in the amplified clouds. Our
experiments permit a precise analysis of the amplification in specific spatial
Bessel-like modes, allowing for the detailed understanding of the double
symmetry breaking. On resonances that create vortex-antivortex superpositions,
we show that the cylindrical spatial symmetry is spontaneously broken, but
phase squeezing prevents spin-symmetry breaking. If, however, nondegenerate
spin modes contribute to the amplification, quantum interferences lead to
spin-dependent density profiles and hence spontaneously-formed patterns in the
longitudinal magnetization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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