Reply on `comment on our paper `Single two-level ion in an anharmonic-oscillator trap: Time evolution of the Q function and population inversion ''

We show here that the model Hamiltonian used in our paper for ion vibrating in a q-analog harmonic oscillator trap and interacting with a classical single-mode light field is indeed obtained by replacing the usual bosonic creation and annihilation operators of the harmonic trap model by their q-deformed counterparts. The approximations made in our paper amount to using for the ion-laser interaction in a q-analog harmonic oscillator trap, the operator F_{q}=exp{-(|\epsilon|^2}/2)}exp{i\epsilon A^{\dagger}}exp{i\epsilon A}, which is analogous to the corresponding operator for ion in a harmonic oscillator trap that is $F=exp{-(|\epsilon|^2 /2)}exp{i\epsilon a^{\dagger }}exp{i\epsilon a}$. In our article we do not claim to have diagonalized the operator, $F_q = exp{i \epsilon (A^{\dagger}+A)}$, for which the basis states |g,m> and |e,m> are not analytic vectors.Comment: Revtex, 4pages. To be Published in Physical Review A59, NO.4(April 99

Quantum state engineering on an optical transition and decoherence in a Paul trap

A single Ca+ ion in a Paul trap has been cooled to the ground state of vibration with up to 99.9% probability. Starting from this Fock state |n=0> we have demonstrated coherent quantum state manipulation on an optical transition. Up to 30 Rabi oscillations within 1.4 ms have been observed. We find a similar number of Rabi oscillations after preparation of the ion in the |n=1> Fock state. The coherence of optical state manipulation is only limited by laser and ambient magnetic field fluctuations. Motional heating has been measured to be as low as one vibrational quantum in 190 ms.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Dark pair coherent states of the motion of a trapped ion

We propose a scheme for generating vibrational pair coherent states of the motion of an ion in a two-dimensional trap. In our scheme, the trapped ion is excited bichromatically by three laser beams along different directions in the X-Y plane of the ion trap. We show that if the initial vibrational state is given by a two-mode Fock state, the final steady state, indicated by the extinction of the fluorescence emitted by the ion, is a pure state. The motional state of the ion in the equilibrium realizes that of the highly-correlated pair coherent state.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Quantum mechanical counterpart of nonlinear optics

Raman-type laser excitation of a trapped atom allows one to realize the quantum mechanical counterpart of phenomena of nonlinear optics, such as Kerr-type nonlinearities, parametric amplification, and multi-mode mixing. Additionally, huge nonlinearities emerge from the interference of the atomic wave function with the laser waves. They lead to a partitioning of the phase space accompanied by a significantly different action of the time evolution in neighboring phase-space zones. For example, a nonlinearly modified coherent "displacement" of the motional quantum state may induce strong amplitude squeezing and quantum interferences.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. A 55 (June

Trapped ions in the strong excitation regime: ion interferometry and non--classical states

The interaction of a trapped ion with a laser beam in the strong excitation regime is analyzed. In this regime, a variety of non--classical states of motion can be prepared either by using laser pulses of well defined area, or by an adiabatic passage scheme based on the variation of the laser frequency. We show how these states can be used to investigate fundamental properties of quantum mechanics. We also study possible applications of this system to build an ion interferometer.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex format, 5 compressed postscript figure

Measuring the vibrational energy of a trapped ion

We show that an approximate quantum-nondemolition measurement of the vibrational energy of a trapped ion in a standing wave may be made by monitoring the fluorescent intensity from a probe transition. The ac component of the mean photocurrent signal is directly proportional to the average vibrational quantum number. The power spectrum of the photocurrent also contains information on the vibrational energy. We show that the phase of the vibrational motion undergoes diffusion as expected for a quantum-limited measurement of the energy of oscillation

Quantum integrable multi atom matter-radiation models with and without rotating wave approximation

New integrable multi-atom matter-radiation models with and without rotating wave approximation (RWA) are constructed and exactly solved through algebraic Bethe ansatz. The models with RWA are generated through ancestor model approach in an unified way. The rational case yields the standard type of matter-radiaton models, while the trigonometric case corresponds to their q-deformations. The models without RWA are obtained from the elliptic case at the Gaudin and high spin limit.Comment: 9 pages, no figure, talk presented in int. conf. NEEDS04 (Gallipoli, Italy, July 2004

Vibrational pair cat states

Published versio

Squeezing arbitrary cavity-field states through their interaction with a single driven atom

We propose an implementation of the parametric amplification of an arbitrary radiation-field state previously prepared in a high-Q cavity. This nonlinear process is accomplished through the dispersive interactions of a single three-level atom (fundamental |g>, intermediate |i>, and excited |e> levels) simultaneously with i) a classical driving field and ii) a previously prepared cavity mode whose state we wish to squeeze. We show that, in the adiabatic approximantion, the preparation of the initial atomic state in the intermediate level |i> becomes crucial for obtaing the degenerated parametric amplification process.Comment: Final published versio

Engineering two-mode interactions in ion traps

Published versio