1,666 research outputs found
Narrow Line Cooling and Momentum-Space Crystals
Narrow line laser cooling is advancing the frontier for experiments ranging
from studies of fundamental atomic physics to high precision optical frequency
standards. In this paper, we present an extensive description of the systems
and techniques necessary to realize 689 nm 1S0 - 3P1 narrow line cooling of
atomic 88Sr. Narrow line cooling and trapping dynamics are also studied in
detail. By controlling the relative size of the power broadened transition
linewidth and the single-photon recoil frequency shift, we show that it is
possible to continuously bridge the gap between semiclassical and quantum
mechanical cooling. Novel semiclassical cooling process, some of which are
intimately linked to gravity, are also explored. Moreover, for laser
frequencies tuned above the atomic resonance, we demonstrate momentum-space
crystals containing up to 26 well defined lattice points. Gravitationally
assisted cooling is also achieved with blue-detuned light. Theoretically, we
find the blue detuned dynamics are universal to Doppler limited systems. This
paper offers the most comprehensive study of narrow line laser cooling to date.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figure
Measurement of Linear Stark Interference in 199Hg
We present measurements of Stark interference in the 6
6 transition in Hg, a process whereby a static electric field
mixes magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole couplings into an electric
dipole transition, leading to -linear energy shifts similar to those
produced by a permanent atomic electric dipole moment (EDM). The measured
interference amplitude, = = (5.8 1.5) (kV/cm), agrees with relativistic, many-body predictions and
confirms that earlier central-field estimates are a factor of 10 too large.
More importantly, this study validates the capability of the Hg EDM
search apparatus to resolve non-trivial, controlled, and sub-nHz Larmor
frequency shifts with EDM-like characteristics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; revised in response to reviewer comment
Improved limit on the permanent electric dipole moment of 199Hg
We report the results of a new experimental search for a permanent electric
dipole moment of 199Hg utilizing a stack of four vapor cells. We find d(199Hg)
= (0.49 \pm 1.29_stat \pm 0.76_syst) x 10^{-29} e cm, and interpret this as a
new upper bound, |d(199Hg)| < 3.1 x 10^{-29} e cm (95% C.L.). This result
improves our previous 199Hg limit by a factor of 7, and can be used to set new
constraints on CP violation in physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. additional reference, minor edits in response to
reviewer comment
Ultracold collision properties of metastable alkaline-earth atoms
Ultra-cold collisions of spin-polarized 24Mg,40Ca, and 88Sr in the metastable
3P2 excited state are investigated. We calculate the long-range interaction
potentials and estimate the scattering length and the collisional loss rate as
a function of magnetic field. The estimates are based on molecular potentials
between 3P2 alkaline-earth atoms obtained from ab initio atomic and molecular
structure calculations. The scattering lengths show resonance behavior due to
the appearance of a molecular bound state in a purely long-range interaction
potential and are positive for magnetic fields below 50 mT. A loss-rate model
shows that losses should be smallest near zero magnetic field and for fields
slightly larger than the resonance field, where the scattering length is also
positive.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Collective ferromagnetism in two-component Fermi-degenerate gas trapped in finite potential
Spin asymmetry of the ground states is studied for the trapped
spin-degenerate (two-component) gases of the fermionic atoms with the repulsive
interaction between different components, and, for large particle number, the
asymmetric (collective ferromagnetic) states are shown to be stable because it
can be energetically favorable to increase the fermi energy of one component
rather than the increase of the interaction energy between up-down components.
We formulate the Thomas-Fermi equations and show the algebraic methods to solve
them. From the Thomas-Fermi solutions, we find three kinds of ground states in
finite system: 1) paramagnetic (spin-symmetric), 2) ferromagnetic (equilibrium)
and 3) ferromagnetic (nonequilibrium) states. We show the density profiles and
the critical atom numbers for these states obtained analytically, and, in
ferromagnetic states, the spin-asymmetries are shown to occur in the central
regions of the trapped gas, and grows up with increasing particle number. Based
on the obtained results, we discuss the experimental conditions and current
difficulties to realize the ferromagnetic states of the trapped atom gas, which
should be overcome.Comment: submit to PR
On Quartet Superfluidity of Fermionic Atomic Gas
Possibility of a quartet superfluidity in fermionic systems is studied as a
new aspect of atomic gas at ultra low temperatures. The four-fold degeneracy of
hyperfine state and moderate coupling is indispensable for the quartet
superfluidity to occur. Possible superconductivity with quartet condensation in
electron systems is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.74 (2005) No.7, in press;
Note added for related previous works; some typographic errors revise
Magnetic trapping of metastable atomic strontium
We report the magnetic trapping of metastable atomic strontium. Atoms
are cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole allowed
transition at 461 nm. Decay via
continuously loads a magnetic trap formed by the quadrupole magnetic field of
the MOT. Over atoms at a density of cm and
temperature of 1 mK are trapped. The atom temperature is significantly lower
than what would be expected from the kinetic and potential energy of atoms as
they are transferred from the MOT. This suggests that thermalization and
evaporative cooling are occurring in the magnetic trap.Comment: This paper has been accepted by PR
Dynamics of trapped two-component Fermi gas: temperature dependence of the transition from collisionless to collisional regime
We develop a numerical method to study the dynamics of a two-component atomic
Fermi gas trapped inside a harmonic potential at temperature T well below the
Fermi temperature Tf. We examine the transition from the collisionless to the
collisional regime down to T=0.2 Tf and find good qualitative agreement with
the experiments of B. DeMarco and D.S. Jin [Phys. Rev. Lett. vol. 88, 040405
(2002)]. We demonstrate a twofold role of temperature on the collision rate and
on the efficiency of collisions. In particular we observe an hitherto
unreported effect, namely that the transition to hydrodynamic behavior is
shifted towards lower collision rates as temperature decreases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Ferredoxin containing bacteriocins suggest a novel mechanism of iron uptake in <i>Pectobacterium spp</i>
In order to kill competing strains of the same or closely related bacterial species, many bacteria produce potent narrow-spectrum protein antibiotics known as bacteriocins. Two sequenced strains of the phytopathogenic bacterium <i>Pectobacterium carotovorum</i> carry genes encoding putative bacteriocins which have seemingly evolved through a recombination event to encode proteins containing an N-terminal domain with extensive similarity to a [2Fe-2S] plant ferredoxin and a C-terminal colicin M-like catalytic domain. In this work, we show that these genes encode active bacteriocins, pectocin M1 and M2, which target strains of <i>Pectobacterium carotovorum</i> and <i>Pectobacterium atrosepticum</i> with increased potency under iron limiting conditions. The activity of pectocin M1 and M2 can be inhibited by the addition of spinach ferredoxin, indicating that the ferredoxin domain of these proteins acts as a receptor binding domain. This effect is not observed with the mammalian ferredoxin protein adrenodoxin, indicating that <i>Pectobacterium spp.</i> carries a specific receptor for plant ferredoxins and that these plant pathogens may acquire iron from the host through the uptake of ferredoxin. In further support of this hypothesis we show that the growth of strains of <i>Pectobacterium carotovorum</i> and <i>atrosepticum</i> that are not sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of pectocin M1 is enhanced in the presence of pectocin M1 and M2 under iron limiting conditions. A similar growth enhancement under iron limiting conditions is observed with spinach ferrodoxin, but not with adrenodoxin. Our data indicate that pectocin M1 and M2 have evolved to parasitise an existing iron uptake pathway by using a ferredoxin-containing receptor binding domain as a Trojan horse to gain entry into susceptible cells
Creation of ultracold molecules from a Fermi gas of atoms
Since the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in atomic gases an
experimental challenge has been the production of molecular gases in the
quantum regime. A promising approach is to create the molecular gas directly
from an ultracold atomic gas; for example, atoms in a BEC have been coupled to
electronic ground-state molecules through photoassociation as well as through a
magnetic-field Feshbach resonance. The availability of atomic Fermi gases
provides the exciting prospect of coupling fermionic atoms to bosonic
molecules, and thus altering the quantum statistics of the system. This
Fermi-Bose coupling is closely related to the pairing mechanism for a novel
fermionic superfluid proposed to occur near a Feshbach resonance. Here we
report the creation and quantitative characterization of exotic, ultracold
K molecules. Starting with a quantum degenerate Fermi gas of atoms
at T < 150 nanoKelvin we scan over a Feshbach resonance to adiabatically create
over a quarter million trapped molecules, which we can convert back to atoms by
reversing the scan. The small binding energy of the molecules is controlled by
detuning from the Feshbach resonance and can be varied over a wide range. We
directly detect these weakly bound molecules through rf photodissociation
spectra that probe the molecular wavefunction and yield binding energies that
are consistent with theory
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