86 research outputs found
Characterization of high finesse mirrors: loss, phase shifts and mode structure in an optical cavity
An extensive characterization of high finesse optical cavities used in cavity
QED experiments is described. Different techniques in the measurement of the
loss and phase shifts associated with the mirror coatings are discussed and
their agreement shown. Issues of cavity field mode structure supported by the
dielectric coatings are related to our effort to achieve the strongest possible
coupling between an atom and the cavity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Optimal Sizes of Dielectric Microspheres for Cavity QED with Strong Coupling
The whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of quartz microspheres are investigated
for the purpose of strong coupling between single photons and atoms in cavity
quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED). Within our current understanding of the
loss mechanisms of the WGMs, the saturation photon number, n, and critical atom
number, N, cannot be minimized simultaneously, so that an "optimal" sphere size
is taken to be the radius for which the geometric mean, (n x N)^(1/2), is
minimized. While a general treatment is given for the dimensionless parameters
used to characterize the atom-cavity system, detailed consideration is given to
the D2 transition in atomic Cesium (852nm) using fused-silica microspheres, for
which the maximum coupling coefficient g/(2*pi)=750MHz occurs for a sphere
radius a=3.63microns corresponding to the minimum for n=6.06x10^(-6). By
contrast, the minimum for N=9.00x10^(-6) occurs for a sphere radius of
a=8.12microns, while the optimal sphere size for which (n x N)^(1/2) is
minimized occurs at a=7.83microns. On an experimental front, we have fabricated
fused-silica microspheres with radii a=10microns and consistently observed
quality factors Q=0.8x10^(7). These results for the WGMs are compared with
corresponding parameters achieved in Fabry-Perot cavities to demonstrate the
significant potential of microspheres as a tool for cavity QED with strong
coupling.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure
Young people's attitudes to religious diversity : quantitative approaches from social psychology and empirical theology
This essay discusses the design of the quantitative component of the âYoung Peopleâs Attitudes to Religious Diversityâ project, conceived by Professor Robert Jackson within the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, and presents some preliminary findings from the data. The quantitative component followed and built on the qualitative component within a mixed method design. The argument is advanced in seven steps: introducing the major sources of theory on which the quantitative approach builds from the psychology of religion and from empirical theology; locating the empirical traditions of research among young people that have shaped the study; clarifying the notions and levels of measurement employed in the study anticipating the potential for various forms of data analysis; discussing some of the established measures incorporated in the survey; defining the ways in which the sample was structured to reflect the four nations of the UK, and London; illustrating the potential within largely descriptive cross-tabulation forms of analysis; and illustrating the potential within more sophisticated multivariate analytic models
Trapping of Single Atoms with Single Photons in Cavity QED
Two recent experiments have reported the trapping of individual atoms inside
optical resonators by the mechanical forces associated with single photons
[Hood et al., Science 287, 1447 (2000) and Pinkse et al., Nature 404, 365
(2000)]. Here we analyze the trapping dynamics in these settings, focusing on
two points of interest. Firstly, we investigate the extent to which
light-induced forces in these experiments are distinct from their free-space
counterparts. Secondly, we explore the quantitative features of the resulting
atomic motion and how these dynamics are mapped onto variations of the
intracavity field. Not surprisingly, qualitatively distinct atomic dynamics
arise as the coupling and dissipative rates are varied. For the experiment of
Hood et al., we show that atomic motion is largely conservative and is
predominantly in radial orbits transverse to the cavity axis. A comparison with
the free-space theory demonstrates that the fluctuations of the dipole force
are suppressed by an order of magnitude. This effect is based upon the
Jaynes-Cummings eigenstates of the atom-cavity system and represents
qualitatively new physics for optical forces at the single-photon level. By
contrast, even in a regime of strong coupling in the experiment of Pinkse et
al., there are only small quantitative distinctions between the free-space
theory and the quantum theory, so it is not clear that description of this
experiment as a novel single-quantum trapping effect is necessary. The atomic
motion is strongly diffusive, leading to an average localization time
comparable to the time for an atom to transit freely through the cavity and to
a reduction in the ability to infer aspects of the atomic motion from the
intracavity photon number.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figure files, REVTEX, corrected spelling, LaTeX now
produces postscript which includes figures, minor changes to figures. Final
version to be published in Physical Review A, expanded summary of results in
introduction, minor changes to figures and tex
Continuous Quantum Measurement and the Quantum to Classical Transition
While ultimately they are described by quantum mechanics, macroscopic
mechanical systems are nevertheless observed to follow the trajectories
predicted by classical mechanics. Hence, in the regime defining macroscopic
physics, the trajectories of the correct classical motion must emerge from
quantum mechanics, a process referred to as the quantum to classical
transition. Extending previous work [Bhattacharya, Habib, and Jacobs, Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 4852 (2000)], here we elucidate this transition in some
detail, showing that once the measurement processes which affect all
macroscopic systems are taken into account, quantum mechanics indeed predicts
the emergence of classical motion. We derive inequalities that describe the
parameter regime in which classical motion is obtained, and provide numerical
examples. We also demonstrate two further important properties of the classical
limit. First, that multiple observers all agree on the motion of an object, and
second, that classical statistical inference may be used to correctly track the
classical motion.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, Revtex
Dynamic generation of maximally entangled photon multiplets by adiabatic passage
The adiabatic passage scheme for quantum state synthesis, in which atomic
Zeeman coherences are mapped to photon states in an optical cavity, is extended
to the general case of two degenerate cavity modes with orthogonal
polarization. Analytical calculations of the dressed-state structure and Monte
Carlo wave-function simulations of the system dynamics show that, for a
suitably chosen cavity detuning, it is possible to generate states of photon
multiplets that are maximally entangled in polarization. These states display
nonclassical correlations of the type described by Greenberger, Horne, and
Zeilinger (GHZ). An experimental scheme to realize a GHZ measurement using
coincidence detection of the photons escaping from the cavity is proposed. The
correlations are found to originate in the dynamics of the adiabatic passage
and persist even if cavity decay and GHZ state synthesis compete on the same
time scale. Beyond entangled field states, it is also possible to generate
entanglement between photons and the atom by using a different atomic
transition and initial Zeeman state.Comment: 22 pages (RevTeX), including 23 postscript figures. To be published
in Physical Review
Experimental Proposal for Achieving Superadditive Communication Capacities with a Binary Quantum Alphabet
We demonstrate superadditivity in the communication capacity of a binary
alphabet consisting of two nonorthogonal quantum states. For this scheme,
collective decoding is performed two transmissions at a time. This improves
upon the previous schemes of Sasaki et al. [Phys. Rev. A 58, 146 (1998)] where
superadditivity was not achieved until a decoding of three or more
transmissions at a time. This places superadditivity within the regime of a
near-term laboratory demonstration. We propose an experimental test based upon
an alphabet of low photon-number coherent states where the signal decoding is
done with atomic state measurements on a single atom in a high-finesse optical
cavity.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Resonance fluorescence of a trapped three-level atom
We investigate theoretically the spectrum of resonance fluorescence of a
harmonically trapped atom, whose internal transitions are --shaped and
driven at two-photon resonance by a pair of lasers, which cool the
center--of--mass motion. For this configuration, photons are scattered only due
to the mechanical effects of the quantum interaction between light and atom. We
study the spectrum of emission in the final stage of laser--cooling, when the
atomic center-of-mass dynamics is quantum mechanical and the size of the wave
packet is much smaller than the laser wavelength (Lamb--Dicke limit). We use
the spectral decomposition of the Liouville operator of the master equation for
the atomic density matrix and apply second order perturbation theory. We find
that the spectrum of resonance fluorescence is composed by two narrow sidebands
-- the Stokes and anti-Stokes components of the scattered light -- while all
other signals are in general orders of magnitude smaller. For very low
temperatures, however, the Mollow--type inelastic component of the spectrum
becomes visible. This exhibits novel features which allow further insight into
the quantum dynamics of the system. We provide a physical model that interprets
our results and discuss how one can recover temperature and cooling rate of the
atom from the spectrum. The behaviour of the considered system is compared with
the resonance fluorescence of a trapped atom whose internal transition consists
of two-levels.Comment: 11 pages, 4 Figure
Multipartite Entanglement and Quantum State Exchange
We investigate multipartite entanglement in relation to the theoretical
process of quantum state exchange. In particular, we consider such entanglement
for a certain pure state involving two groups of N trapped atoms. The state,
which can be produced via quantum state exchange, is analogous to the
steady-state intracavity state of the subthreshold optical nondegenerate
parametric amplifier. We show that, first, it possesses some 2N-way
entanglement. Second, we place a lower bound on the amount of such entanglement
in the state using a novel measure called the entanglement of minimum bipartite
entropy.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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