Spectral Sidebands and Multi-Pulse Formation in Passively Mode Locked Lasers

Pulse formation in passively mode locked lasers is often accompanied with dispersive waves that form of spectral sidebands due to spatial inhomogoneities in the laser cavity. Here we present an explicit calculation of the amplitude, frequency, and precise shape of the sidebands accompanying a soliton-like pulse. We then extend the study to the global steady state of mode locked laser with a variable number of pulses, and present experimental results in a mode locked fiber laser that confirm the theory. The strong correlation between the temporal width of the sidebands and the measured spacing between the pulses in multipulse operation suggests that the sidebands have an important role in the inter-pulse interaction.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Atomic interferometer based on optical tweezers

Atomic interferometers measure forces and acceleration with exceptional precision. The conventional approach to atomic interferometry is to launch an atomic cloud into a ballistic trajectory and perform the wave-packet splitting in momentum space by Raman transitions. This places severe constraints on the possible atomic trajectory, positioning accuracy and probing duration. Here, we propose and analyze a novel atomic interferometer that uses micro-optical traps (optical tweezers) to manipulate and control the motion of atoms. The new interferometer allows long probing time, sub micrometer positioning accuracy, and utmost flexibility in shaping of the atomic trajectory. The cornerstone of the tweezer interferometer are the coherent atomic splitting and combining schemes. We present two adiabatic schemes with two or three tweezers that are robust to experimental imperfections and work simultaneously with many vibrational states. The latter property allows for multi-atom interferometry in a single run. We also highlight the advantage of using fermionic atoms to obtain single-atom occupation of vibrational states and to eliminate mean-field shifts. We examine the impact of tweezer intensity noise and demonstrate that, when constrained by shot noise, the interferometer can achieve a relative accuracy better than $10^{-12}$ in measuring Earth's gravitational acceleration. The sub-micrometer resolution and extended measurement duration offer promising opportunities for exploring fundamental physical laws in new regimes. We discuss two applications well-suited for the unique capabilities of the tweezer interferometer: the measurement of gravitational forces and the study of Casimir-Polder forces between atoms and surfaces. Crucially, our proposed tweezer interferometer is within the reach of current technological capabilities.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Critical Behavior of Light

Light is shown to exhibit critical and tricritical behavior in passive mode-locked lasers with externally injected pulses. It is a first and unique example of critical phenomena in a one-dimensional many body light-mode system. The phase diagrams consist of regimes with continuous wave, driven para-pulses, spontaneous pulses via mode condensation, and heterogeneous pulses, separated by phase transition lines which terminate with critical or tricritical points. Enhanced nongaussian fluctuations and collective dynamics are observed at the critical and tricritical points, showing a mode system analog of the critical opalescence phenomenon. The critical exponents are calculated and shown to comply with the mean field theory, which is rigorous in the light system.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 3 figure