Light forces in ultracold photoassociation

We study the time-resolved photoassociation of ultracold sodium in an optical dipole trap. The photoassociation laser excites pairs of atoms to molecular states of large total angular momentum at high intensities (above 20 kW/cm$^{2}$). Such transitions are generally suppressed at ultracold temperatures by the centrifugal barriers for high partial waves. Time-resolved ionization measurements reveal that the atoms are accelerated by the dipole potential of the photoassociation beam. We change the collision energy by varying the potential depth, and observe a strong variation of the photoassociation rate. These results demonstrate the important role of light forces in cw photoassociation at high intensities.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Spinor Dynamics in an Antiferromagnetic Spin-1 Condensate

We observe coherent spin oscillations in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium. The variation of the spin oscillations with magnetic field shows a clear signature of nonlinearity, in agreement with theory, which also predicts anharmonic oscillations near a critical magnetic field. Measurements of the magnetic phase diagram agree with predictions made in the approximation of a single spatial mode. The oscillation period yields the best measurement to date of the sodium spin-dependent interaction coefficient, determining that the difference between the sodium spin-dependent s-wave scattering lengths $a_{f=2}-a_{f=0}$ is $2.47\pm0.27$ Bohr radii.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Changes: added reference, minor correction

All-optical generation and photoassociative probing of sodium Bose-Einstein condensates

We demonsatrate an all optical technique to evaporatively produce sodium Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). We use a crossed-dipole trap formed from light near 1060 nm, and a simple ramp of the intensity to force evaporation. In addition, we introduce photoassociation as diagnostic of the trap loading process, and show that it can be used to detect the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation. Finally, we demonstrate the straightforward production of multiple traps with condensates using this technique, and that some control over the spinor state of the BEC is achieved by positioning the trap as well.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Ultraslow propagation of matched pulses by four-wave mixing in an atomic vapor

We have observed the ultraslow propagation of matched pulses in nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor. Probe pulses as short as 70 ns can be delayed by a tunable time of up to 40 ns with little broadening or distortion. During the propagation, a probe pulse is amplified and generates a conjugate pulse which is faster and separates from the probe pulse before getting locked to it at a fixed delay. The precise timing of this process allows us to determine the key coefficients of the susceptibility tensor. The presence of gain in this system makes this system very interesting in the context of all-optical information processing.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Effects of a physiotherapy and occupational therapy intervention on mobility and activity in care home residents: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To compare the clinical effectiveness of a programme of physiotherapy and occupational therapy with standard care in care home residents who have mobility limitations and are dependent in performing activities of daily living

Narrow Line Cooling: Finite Photon Recoil Dynamics

We present an extensive study of the unique thermal and mechanical dynamics for narrow-line cooling on the 1S0 - 3P1 88Sr transition. For negative detuning, trap dynamics reveal a transition from the semiclassical regime to the photon-recoil-dominated quantum regime, yielding an absolute minima in the equilibrium temperature below the single-photon recoil limit. For positive detuning, the cloud divides into discrete momentum packets whose alignment mimics lattice points on a face-centered-cubic crystal. This novel behavior arises from velocity selection and "positive feedback" acceleration due to a finite number of photon recoils. Cooling is achieved with blue-detuned light around a velocity where gravity balances the radiative force.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres

Properties of Two-Mode Quadrature Squeezing from Four-wave Mixing in Rubidium Vapor

We present a study of homodyne measurements of two-mode, vacuum-seeded, quadrature-squeezed light generated by four-wave mixing in warm rubidium vapor. Our results reveal that the vacuum squeezing can extend down to measurement frequencies of less than 1 Hz, and the squeezing bandwidth, similar to the seeded intensity-difference squeezing measured in this system, reaches up to approximately 20 MHz for typical pump parameters. By dividing the squeezing bandwidth into smaller frequency bins, we show that different sideband frequencies represent independent sources of two-mode squeezing. Such frequency bins may provide useful qumodes for quantum information processing experiments. We also investigate the impact of group velocity delays on the correlations in the system