Rydberg Wave Packets are Squeezed States

We point out that Rydberg wave packets (and similar ``coherent" molecular packets) are, in general, squeezed states, rather than the more elementary coherent states. This observation allows a more intuitive understanding of their properties; e.g., their revivals.Comment: 7 pages of text plus one figure available in the literature, LA-UR 93-2804, to be published in Quantum Optics, LaTe

Heisenberg-type higher order symmetries of superintegrable systems separable in cartesian coordinates

Heisenberg-type higher order symmetries are studied for both classical and quantum mechanical systems separable in cartesian coordinates. A few particular cases of this type of superintegrable systems were already considered in the literature, but here they are characterized in full generality together with their integrability properties. Some of these systems are defined only in a region of $\mathbb R^n$, and in general they do not include bounded solutions. The quantum symmetries and potentials are shown to reduce to their superintegrable classical analogs in the $\hbar \to0$ limit.Comment: 23 Pages, 3 figures, To appear in Nonlinearit

Superintegrability of the Fock-Darwin system

The Fock-Darwin system is analysed from the point of view of its symmetry properties in the quantum and classical frameworks. The quantum Fock-Darwin system is known to have two sets of ladder operators, a fact which guarantees its solvability. We show that for rational values of the quotient of two relevant frequencies, this system is superintegrable, the quantum symmetries being responsible for the degeneracy of the energy levels. These symmetries are of higher order and close a polynomial algebra. In the classical case, the ladder operators are replaced by ladder functions and the symmetries by constants of motion. We also prove that the rational classical system is superintegrable and its trajectories are closed. The constants of motion are also generators of symmetry transformations in the phase space that have been integrated for some special cases. These transformations connect different trajectories with the same energy. The coherent states of the quantum superintegrable system are found and they reproduce the closed trajectories of the classical one.Comment: 21 pages,16 figure

Magnetic noise around metallic microstructures

We compute the local spectrum of the magnetic field near a metallic microstructure at finite temperature. Our main focus is on deviations from a plane-layered geometry for which we review the main properties. Arbitrary geometries are handled with the help of numerical calculations based on surface integral equations. The magnetic noise shows a significant polarization anisotropy above flat wires with finite lateral width, in stark contrast to an infinitely wide wire. Within the limits of a two-dimensional setting, our results provide accurate estimates for loss and dephasing rates in so-called `atom chip traps' based on metallic wires. A simple approximation based on the incoherent summation of local current elements gives qualitative agreement with the numerics, but fails to describe current correlations among neighboring objects.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in J Appl Phys; figures plotted for slightly smaller structur

Indication, from Pioneer 10/11, Galileo, and Ulysses Data, of an Apparent Anomalous, Weak, Long-Range Acceleration

Radio metric data from the Pioneer 10/11, Galileo, and Ulysses spacecraft indicate an apparent anomalous, constant, acceleration acting on the spacecraft with a magnitude $\sim 8.5\times 10^{-8}$ cm/s$^2$, directed towards the Sun. Two independent codes and physical strategies have been used to analyze the data. A number of potential causes have been ruled out. We discuss future kinematic tests and possible origins of the signal.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages and 1 figure. Minor changes for publicatio

Squeezed States for General Systems

We propose a ladder-operator method for obtaining the squeezed states of general symmetry systems. It is a generalization of the annihilation-operator technique for obtaining the coherent states of symmetry systems. We connect this method with the minimum-uncertainty method for obtaining the squeezed and coherent states of general potential systems, and comment on the distinctions between these two methods and the displacement-operator method.Comment: 8 pages, LAUR-93-1721, LaTe