Comment on 'Quantum inversion of cold atoms in a microcavity: spatial dependence'

In a recent work, Abdel-Aty and Obada [2002 J. Phys. B 35 807-813] analyzed the quantum inversion of cold atoms in a microcavity, the motion of the atoms being described quantum mechanically. Two-level atoms were assumed to interact with a single mode of the cavity, and the off-resonance case was considered (namely the atomic transition frequency is detuned from the single mode cavity frequency). We demonstrate in this paper that this case is incorrectly treated by these authors and we question therefore their conclusions.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Isotope shifts and hyperfine structure of the laser cooling Fe I 358-nm line

We report on the measurement of the isotope shifts of the $3d^74s \,\, a \, {}^5\!F_5 - 3d^74p \,\, z \, {}^5\!G^o_6$ Fe~I line at 358~nm between all four stable isotopes ${}^{54}$Fe, ${}^{56}$Fe, ${}^{57}$Fe and ${}^{58}$Fe, as well as the hyperfine structure of that line for ${}^{57}$Fe, the only stable isotope having a nonzero nuclear spin. This line is of primary importance for laser cooling applications. In addition, an experimental value of the field and specific mass shift coefficients of the transition is reported as well as the hyperfine structure magnetic dipole coupling constant $A$ of the transition excited state in $^{57}$Fe, namely $A(3d^74p \,\, z \, {}^5\!G^o_6)=31.241(48)$ MHz. The measurements were carried out by means of laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy performed on an isotope-enriched iron atomic beam. All measured frequency shifts are reported with uncertainties below the third percent level.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Tunable Entanglement, Antibunching and Saturation effects in Dipole Blockade

We report a model that makes it possible to analyze quantitatively the dipole blockade effect on the dynamical evolution of a two two-level atom system driven by an external laser field. The multiple excitations of the atomic sample are taken into account. We find very large concurrence in the dipole blockade regime. We further find that entanglement can be tuned by changing the intensity of the exciting laser. We also report a way to lift the dipole blockade paving the way to manipulate in a controllable way the blockade effects. We finally report how a continuous monitoring of the dipole blockade would be possible using photon-photon correlations of the scattered light in a regime where the spontaneous emission would dominate dissipation in the sample.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Operational Entanglement Families of Symmetric Mixed N-Qubit States

We introduce an operational entanglement classification of symmetric mixed states for an arbitrary number of qubits based on stochastic local operations assisted with classical communication (SLOCC operations). We define families of SLOCC entanglement classes successively embedded into each other, we prove that they are of non-zero measure, and we construct witness operators to distinguish them. Moreover, we discuss how arbitrary symmetric mixed states can be realized in the lab via a one-to-one correspondence between well-defined sets of controllable parameters and the corresponding entanglement families.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, published version, Phys. Rev. A, in pres

Tensor Representation of Spin States

We propose a generalization of the Bloch sphere representation for arbitrary spin states. It provides a compact and elegant representation of spin density matrices in terms of tensors that share the most important properties of Bloch vectors. Our representation, based on covariant matrices introduced by Weinberg in the context of quantum field theory, allows for a simple parametrization of coherent spin states, and a straightforward transformation of density matrices under local unitary and partial tracing operations. It enables us to provide a criterion for anticoherence, relevant in a broader context such as quantum polarization of light.Comment: 5 pages + 7 pages of supplementary informatio

Heralded Entanglement of Arbitrary Degree in Remote Qubits

Incoherent scattering of photons off two remote atoms with a Lambda-level structure is used as a basic Young-type interferometer to herald long-lived entanglement of an arbitrary degree. The degree of entanglement, as measured by the concurrence, is found to be tunable by two easily accessible experimental parameters. Fixing one of them to certain values unveils an analog to the Malus' law. An estimate of the variation in the degree of entanglement due to uncertainties in an experimental realization is given.Comment: published version, 4 pages and 2 figure

Operational multipartite entanglement classes for symmetric photonic qubit states

We present experimental schemes that allow to study the entanglement classes of all symmetric states in multiqubit photonic systems. In addition to comparing the presented schemes in efficiency, we will highlight the relation between the entanglement properties of symmetric Dicke states and a recently proposed entanglement scheme for atoms. In analogy to the latter, we obtain a one-to-one correspondence between well-defined sets of experimental parameters and multiqubit entanglement classes inside the symmetric subspace of the photonic system.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Operational determination of multi-qubit entanglement classes via tuning of local operations

We present a physical setup with which it is possible to produce arbitrary symmetric long-lived multiqubit entangled states in the internal ground levels of photon emitters, including the paradigmatic GHZ and W states. In the case of three emitters, where each tripartite entangled state belongs to one of two well-defined entanglement classes, we prove a one-to-one correspondence between well-defined sets of experimental parameters, i.e., locally tunable polarizer orientations, and multiqubit entanglement classes inside the symmetric subspace.Comment: Improved version. Accepted in Physical Review Letter