17,720 research outputs found
Effective Operators for Double-Beta Decay
We use a solvable model to examine double-beta decay, focusing on the
neutrinoless mode. After examining the ways in which the neutrino propagator
affects the corresponding matrix element, we address the problem of finite
model-space size in shell-model calculations by projecting our exact wave
functions onto a smaller subspace. We then test both traditional and more
recent prescriptions for constructing effective operators in small model
spaces, concluding that the usual treatment of double-beta-decay operators in
realistic calculations is unable to fully account for the neglected parts of
the model space. We also test the quality of the Quasiparticle Random Phase
Approximation and examine a recent proposal within that framework to use
two-neutrino decay to fix parameters in the Hamiltonian. The procedure
eliminates the dependence of neutrinoless decay on some unfixed parameters and
reduces the dependence on model-space size, though it doesn't eliminate the
latter completely.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Observation of two-orbital spin-exchange interactions with ultracold SU(N)-symmetric fermions
We report on the direct observation of spin-exchanging interactions in a
two-orbital SU(N)-symmetric quantum gas of ytterbium in an optical lattice. The
two orbital states are represented by two different (meta-)stable electronic
configurations of fermionic Yb-173. A strong spin-exchange between particles in
the two separate orbitals is mediated by the contact interaction between atoms,
which we characterize by clock shift spectroscopy in a 3D optical lattice. We
find the system to be SU(N)-symmetric within our measurement precision and
characterize all relevant scattering channels for atom pairs in combinations of
the ground and the excited state. Elastic scattering between the orbitals is
dominated by the antisymmetric channel, which leads to the strong spin-exchange
coupling. The exchange process is directly observed, by characterizing the
dynamic equilibration of spin imbalances between two large ensembles in the two
orbital states, as well as indirectly in atom pairs via interaction shift
spectroscopy in a 3D lattice. The realization of a stable SU(N)-symmetric
two-orbital Hubbard Hamiltonian opens the route towards experimental quantum
simulation of condensed-matter models based on orbital interactions, such as
the Kondo lattice model.Comment: Correction: In the original version of this preprint the assignment
of states with symmetric electronic wavefunction (|eg+>) and with
antisymmetric electronic wavefunction (|eg->) to the observed spectral lines
was inverted. This has been corrected in the current version. The results of
the paper remain unchanged, with the exchange coupling being inverted to a
ferromagnetic exchang
Bloch oscillations in Fermi gases
The possibility of Bloch oscillations for a degenerate and superfluid Fermi
gas of atoms in an optical lattice is considered. For a one-component
degenerate gas the oscillations are suppressed for high temperatures and band
fillings. For a two-component gas the Landau criterion is used for specifying
the regime where Bloch oscillations of the superfluid may be observed. We show
how the amplitude of Bloch oscillations varies along the BCS-BEC crossover.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. explanations adde
Measuring the temporal coherence of an atom laser beam
We report on the measurement of the temporal coherence of an atom laser beam
extracted from a Rb Bose-Einstein condensate. Reflecting the beam from a
potential barrier creates a standing matter wave structure. From the contrast
of this interference pattern, observed by magnetic resonance imaging, we have
deduced an energy width of the atom laser beam which is Fourier limited by the
duration of output coupling. This gives an upper limit for temporal phase
fluctuations in the Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Imaging a single atom in a time-of-flight experiment
We perform fluorescence imaging of a single 87Rb atom after its release from
an optical dipole trap. The time-of-flight expansion of the atomic spatial
density distribution is observed by accumulating many single atom images. The
position of the atom is revealed with a spatial resolution close to 1
micrometer by a single photon event, induced by a short resonant probe. The
expansion yields a measure of the temperature of a single atom, which is in
very good agreement with the value obtained by an independent measurement based
on a release-and-recapture method. The analysis presented in this paper
provides a way of calibrating an imaging system useful for experimental studies
involving a few atoms confined in a dipole trap.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure
A pulsed atomic soliton laser
It is shown that simultaneously changing the scattering length of an
elongated, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate from positive to
negative and inverting the axial portion of the trap, so that it becomes
expulsive, results in a train of self-coherent solitonic pulses. Each pulse is
itself a non-dispersive attractive Bose-Einstein condensate that rapidly
self-cools. The axial trap functions as a waveguide. The solitons can be made
robustly stable with the right choice of trap geometry, number of atoms, and
interaction strength. Theoretical and numerical evidence suggests that such a
pulsed atomic soliton laser can be made in present experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Phase-matched four wave mixing and quantum beam splitting of matter waves in a periodic potential
We show that the dispersion properties imposed by an external periodic
potential ensure both energy and quasi-momentum conservation such that
correlated pairs of atoms can be generated by four wave mixing from a
Bose-Einstein condensate moving in an optical lattice potential. In our
numerical solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a condensate with initial
quasi-momentum k_0 is transferred almost completely (>95%) into a pair of
correlated atomic components with quasi-momenta k_1 and k_2, if the system is
seeded with a smaller number of atoms with the appropriate quasi-momentum k_1.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A,
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