4,630 research outputs found
Circular Dichroism of RbHe and RbN Molecules
We present measurements of the circular dichroism of optically pumped Rb
vapor near the D1 resonance line. Collisions with the buffer gases He and
N reduce the transparency of the vapor, even when fully polarized. We use
two methods to measure this effect, show that the He results can be understood
from RbHe potential curves, and show how this effect conspires with the
spectral profile of the optical pumping light to increase the laser power
demands for optical pumping of very optically thick samples
Optical Magnetometer Array for Fetal Magnetocardiography
We describe an array of spin-exchange relaxation free optical magnetometers
designed for detection of fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) signals. The
individual magnetometers are configured with a small volume with intense
optical pumping, surrounded by a large pump-free region. Spin-polarized atoms
that diffuse out of the optical pumping region precess in the ambient magnetic
field and are detected by a probe laser. Four such magnetometers, at the
corners of a 7 cm square, are configured for gradiometry by feeding back the
output of one magnetometer to a field coil to null uniform magnetic field noise
at frequencies up to 200 Hz. Using this array, we present the first
measurements of fMCG signals using an atomic magnetometer
Breakdown of Angular Momentum Selection Rules in High Pressure Optical Pumping Experiments
We present measurements, using two complementary methods, of the breakdown of
atomic angular momentum selection rules in He-broadened Rb vapor. Atomic dark
states are rendered weakly absorbing due to fine-structure mixing during Rb-He
collisions. The effect substantially increases the photon demand for optical
pumping of dense vapors
Solidity of viscous liquids. IV. Density fluctuations
This paper is the fourth in a series exploring the physical consequences of
the solidity of highly viscous liquids. It is argued that the two basic
characteristics of a flow event (a jump between two energy minima in
configuration space) are the local density change and the sum of all particle
displacements. Based on this it is proposed that density fluctuations are
described by a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation with rates in k-space of
the form with where is the average
intermolecular distance. The inequality expresses a long-wavelength dominance
of the dynamics which implies that the Hamiltonian (free energy) may be taken
to be ultra local. As an illustration of the theory the case with the simplest
non-trivial Hamiltonian is solved to second order in the Gaussian
approximation, where it predicts an asymmetric frequency dependence of the
isothermal bulk modulus with Debye behavior at low frequencies and an
decay of the loss at high frequencies. Finally, a general
formalism for the description of viscous liquid dynamics, which supplements the
density dynamics by including stress fields, a potential energy field, and
molecular orientational fields, is proposed
Magnetocardiography with a modular spin-exchange relaxation free atomic magnetometer array
We present a portable four-channel atomic magnetometer array operating in the
spin exchange relaxation-free regime. The magnetometer array has several design
features intended to maximize its suitability for biomagnetic measurement,
specifically foetal magnetocardiography, such as a compact modular design, and
fibre coupled lasers. The modular design allows the independent positioning and
orientation of each magnetometer, in principle allowing for non-planar array
geometries. Using this array in a magnetically shielded room, we acquire adult
magnetocadiograms. These measurements were taken with a 6-11 fT Hz^(-1/2)
single-channel baseline sensitivity that is consistent with the independently
measured noise level of the magnetically shielded room.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Magic wavelengths for the transition in rubidium
Magic wavelengths, for which there is no differential ac Stark shift for the
ground and excited state of the atom, allow trapping of excited Rydberg atoms
without broadening the optical transition. This is an important tool for
implementing quantum gates and other quantum information protocols with Rydberg
atoms, and reliable theoretical methods to find such magic wavelengths are thus
extremely useful. We use a high-precision all-order method to calculate magic
wavelengths for the transition of rubidium, and compare the
calculation to experiment by measuring the light shift for atoms held in an
optical dipole trap at a range of wavelengths near a calculated magic value
A model for the generic alpha relaxation of viscous liquids
Dielectric measurements on molecular liquids just above the glass transition
indicate that alpha relaxation is characterized by a generic high-frequency
loss varying as , whereas deviations from this come from one or
more low-lying beta processes [Olsen et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86} (2001)
1271]. Assuming that long-wavelength fluctuations dominate the dynamics, a
model for the dielectric alpha relaxation based on the simplest coupling
between the density and dipole density fields is proposed here. The model,
which is solved in second order perturbation theory in the Gaussian
approximation, reproduces the generic features of alpha relaxation
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