Spatial oscillations in the spontaneous emission rate of an atom inside a metallic wedge

A method of images is applied to study the spontaneous emission of an atom inside a metallic wedge with an opening angle of $\pi/N$, where N is an arbitrary positive integer. We show the method of images gives a rate formula consistent with that from Quantum Electrodynamics. Using the method of images, we show the correspondence between the oscillations in the spontaneous emission rate and the closed-orbits of emitted photon going away and returning to the atom inside the wedge. The closed-orbits can be readily constructed using the method of images and they are also extracted from the spontaneous emission rate.Comment: 8 figure

Retarded long-range potentials for the alkali-metal atoms and a perfectly conducting wall

The retarded long-range potentials for hydrogen and alkali-metal atoms in their ground states and a perfectly conducting wall are calculated. The potentials are given over a wide range of atom-wall distances and the validity of the approximations used is established.Comment: RevTeX, epsf, 11 pages, 2 fig

Force on a neutral atom near conducting microstructures

We derive the non-retarded energy shift of a neutral atom for two different geometries. For an atom close to a cylindrical wire we find an integral representation for the energy shift, give asymptotic expressions, and interpolate numerically. For an atom close to a semi-infinite halfplane we determine the exact Green's function of the Laplace equation and use it derive the exact energy shift for an arbitrary position of the atom. These results can be used to estimate the energy shift of an atom close to etched microstructures that protrude from substrates.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Entangled light from Bose-Einstein condensates

We propose a method to generate entangled light with a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a cavity, a system realized in recent experiments. The atoms of the condensate are trapped in a periodic potential generated by a cavity mode. The condensate is continuously pumped by a laser and spontaneously emits a pair of photons of different frequencies in two distinct cavity modes. In this way, the condensate mediates entanglement between two cavity modes which leak out and can be separated and exhibit continuous variable entanglement. The scheme exploits the experimentally demonstrated strong, steady and collective coupling of condensate atoms to a cavity field.Comment: 5 pages and 5 figure