8,521 research outputs found
Photoionization Suppression by Continuum Coherence: Experiment and Theory
We present experimental and theoretical results of a detailed study of
laser-induced continuum structures (LICS) in the photoionization continuum of
helium out of the metastable state 2s . The continuum dressing with a
1064 nm laser, couples the same region of the continuum to the {4s }
state. The experimental data, presented for a range of intensities, show
pronounced ionization suppression (by as much as 70% with respect to the
far-from-resonance value) as well as enhancement, in a Beutler-Fano resonance
profile. This ionization suppression is a clear indication of population
trapping mediated by coupling to a contiuum. We present experimental results
demonstrating the effect of pulse delay upon the LICS, and for the behavior of
LICS for both weak and strong probe pulses. Simulations based upon numerical
solution of the Schr\"{o}dinger equation model the experimental results. The
atomic parameters (Rabi frequencies and Stark shifts) are calculated using a
simple model-potential method for the computation of the needed wavefunctions.
The simulations of the LICS profiles are in excellent agreement with
experiment. We also present an analytic formulation of pulsed LICS. We show
that in the case of a probe pulse shorter than the dressing one the LICS
profile is the convolution of the power spectra of the probe pulse with the
usual Fano profile of stationary LICS. We discuss some consequences of
deviation from steady-state theory.Comment: 29 pages, 17 figures, accepted to PR
Longitudinal Atomic Beam Spin Echo Experiments: A possible way to study Parity Violation in Hydrogen
We discuss the propagation of hydrogen atoms in static electric and magnetic
fields in a longitudinal atomic beam spin echo (lABSE) apparatus. Depending on
the choice of the external fields the atoms may acquire both dynamical and
geometrical quantum mechanical phases. As an example of the former, we show
first in-beam spin rotation measurements on atomic hydrogen, which are in
excellent agreement with theory. Additional calculations of the behaviour of
the metastable 2S states of hydrogen reveal that the geometrical phases may
exhibit the signature of parity-(P-)violation. This invites for possible future
lABSE experiments, focusing on P-violating geometrical phases in the lightest
of all atoms.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Coordinate time and proper time in the GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides an excellent educational example
as to how the theory of general relativity is put into practice and becomes
part of our everyday life. This paper gives a short and instructive derivation
of an important formula used in the GPS, and is aimed at graduate students and
general physicists.
The theoretical background of the GPS (see \cite{ashby}) uses the
Schwarzschild spacetime to deduce the {\it approximate} formula, ds/dt\approx
1+V-\frac{|\vv|^2}{2}, for the relation between the proper time rate of a
satellite clock and the coordinate time rate . Here is the gravitational
potential at the position of the satellite and \vv is its velocity (with
light-speed being normalized as ). In this note we give a different
derivation of this formula, {\it without using approximations}, to arrive at
ds/dt=\sqrt{1+2V-|\vv|^2 -\frac{2V}{1+2V}(\n\cdot\vv)^2}, where \n is the
normal vector pointing outward from the center of Earth to the satellite. In
particular, if the satellite moves along a circular orbit then the formula
simplifies to ds/dt=\sqrt{1+2V-|\vv|^2}.
We emphasize that this derivation is useful mainly for educational purposes,
as the approximation above is already satisfactory in practice.Comment: 5 pages, revised, over-over-simplified... Does anyone care that the
GPS uses an approximate formula, while a precise one is available in just a
few lines??? Physicists don'
Composite fermions in periodic and random antidot lattices
The longitudinal and Hall magnetoresistance of random and periodic arrays of artificial scatterers, imposed on a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas, were investigated in the vicinity of Landau level filling factor ν=1/2. In periodic arrays, commensurability effects between the period of the antidot array and the cyclotron radius of composite fermions are observed. In addition, the Hall resistance shows a deviation from the anticipated linear dependence, reminiscent of quenching around zero magnetic field. Both effects are absent for random antidot lattices. The relative amplitude of the geometric resonances for opposite signs of the effective magnetic field and its dependence on illumination illustrate enhanced soft wall effects for composite fermions
Adiabatic population transfer in a three-level system driven by delayed laser pulses
We give a simple analytic solution that describes a novel method for population transfer in a three-level system driven by delayed pulses and which accounts for recent experimental results. This solution describes a procedure that is counter intuitive, and yet it is shown to be, in fact, one of the simplest solutions for multilevel systems arising from the adiabatic theorem. Its possible application to many-level systems is suggested
Oscillations of the magnetic polarization in a Kondo impurity at finite magnetic fields
The electronic properties of a Kondo impurity are investigated in a magnetic
field using linear response theory. The distribution of electrical charge and
magnetic polarization are calculated in real space. The (small) magnetic field
does not change the charge distribution. However, it unmasks the Kondo cloud.
The (equal) weight of the d-electron components with their magnetic moment up
and down is shifted and the compensating s-electron clouds don't cancel any
longer (a requirement for an experimental detection of the Kondo cloud). In
addition to the net magnetic polarization of the conduction electrons an
oscillating magnetic polarization with a period of half the Fermi wave length
is observed. However, this oscillating magnetic polarization does not show the
long range behavior of Rudermann-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida oscillations because the
oscillations don't extend beyond the Kondo radius. They represent an internal
electronic structure of the Kondo impurity in a magnetic field. PACS: 75.20.Hr,
71.23.An, 71.27.+
Passage of an integral membrane protein, the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein, through the Golgi apparatus en route to the plasma membrane.
- …