40 research outputs found
Observation of a Spinning Top in a Bose-Einstein Condensate
Boundaries strongly affect the behavior of quantized vortices in
Bose-Einstein condensates, a phenomenon particularly evident in elongated
cigar-shaped traps where vortices tend to orient along a short direction to
minimize energy. Remarkably, contributions to the angular momentum of these
vortices are tightly confined to the region surrounding the core, in stark
contrast to untrapped condensates where all atoms contribute . We
develop a theoretical model and use this, in combination with numerical
simulations, to show that such localized vortices precess in an analogous
manner to that of a classical spinning top. We experimentally verify this
spinning-top behavior with our real-time imaging technique that allows for the
tracking of position and orientation of vortices as they dynamically evolve.
Finally, we perform an in-depth numerical investigation of our real-time
expansion and imaging method, with the aim of guiding future experimental
implementation, as well as outlining directions for its improvement.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Observation of a Cooperative Radiation Force in the Presence of Disorder
Cooperative scattering of light by an extended object such as an atomic
ensemble or a dielectric sphere is fundamentally different from scattering from
many point-like scatterers such as single atoms. Homogeneous distributions tend
to scatter cooperatively, whereas fluctuations of the density distribution
increase the disorder and suppress cooperativity. In an atomic cloud, the
amount of disorder can be tuned via the optical thickness, and its role can be
studied via the radiation force exerted by the light on the atomic cloud.
Monitoring cold atoms released from a magneto-optical trap, we
present the first experimental signatures of radiation force reduction due to
cooperative scattering. The results are in agreement with an analytical
expression interpolating between the disorder and the cooperativity-dominated
regimes
Modification of radiation pressure due to cooperative scattering of light
Cooperative spontaneous emission of a single photon from a cloud of N atoms
modifies substantially the radiation pressure exerted by a far-detuned laser
beam exciting the atoms. On one hand, the force induced by photon absorption
depends on the collective decay rate of the excited atomic state. On the other
hand, directional spontaneous emission counteracts the recoil induced by the
absorption. We derive an analytical expression for the radiation pressure in
steady-state. For a smooth extended atomic distribution we show that the
radiation pressure depends on the atom number via cooperative scattering and
that, for certain atom numbers, it can be suppressed or enhanced.Comment: 8 pages, 2 Figure
Lyapunov exponents, one-dimensional Anderson localisation and products of random matrices
The concept of Lyapunov exponent has long occupied a central place in the
theory of Anderson localisation; its interest in this particular context is
that it provides a reasonable measure of the localisation length. The Lyapunov
exponent also features prominently in the theory of products of random matrices
pioneered by Furstenberg. After a brief historical survey, we describe some
recent work that exploits the close connections between these topics. We review
the known solvable cases of disordered quantum mechanics involving random point
scatterers and discuss a new solvable case. Finally, we point out some
limitations of the Lyapunov exponent as a means of studying localisation
properties.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages, 3 pdf figures ; review for a special issue on
"Lyapunov analysis" ; v2 : typo corrected in eq.(3) & minor change
One-dimensional classical diffusion in a random force field with weakly concentrated absorbers
A one-dimensional model of classical diffusion in a random force field with a
weak concentration of absorbers is studied. The force field is taken as
a Gaussian white noise with \mean{\phi(x)}=0 and \mean{\phi(x)\phi(x')}=g
\delta(x-x'). Our analysis relies on the relation between the Fokker-Planck
operator and a quantum Hamiltonian in which absorption leads to breaking of
supersymmetry. Using a Lifshits argument, it is shown that the average return
probability is a power law \smean{P(x,t|x,0)}\sim{}t^{-\sqrt{2\rho/g}} (to be
compared with the usual Lifshits exponential decay in
the absence of the random force field). The localisation properties of the
underlying quantum Hamiltonian are discussed as well.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figure
Initiation à l'analyse spatiale à l'aide d'ArcView version 3.1
*INRA Centre de recherches de Nancy Laboratoire d'Intelligence Artificielle et Biométrie - 54280 Champenoux Diffusion du document : INRA Centre de recherches de Nancy Laboratoire d'Intelligence Artificielle et Biométrie - 54280 ChampenouxNational audienc