157 research outputs found
Molecular vibration in cold collision theory
Cold collisions of ground state oxygen molecules with Helium have been
investigated in a wide range of cold collision energies (from 1 K up to 10
K) treating the oxygen molecule first as a rigid rotor and then introducing the
vibrational degree of freedom. The comparison between the two models shows that
at low energies the rigid rotor approximation is very accurate and able to
describe all the dynamical features of the system. The comparison between the
two models has also been extended to cases where the interaction potential He -
O is made artificially stronger. In this case vibration can perturb rate
constants, but fine-tuning the rigid rotor potential can alleviate the
discrepancies between the two models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Suppression of inhomogeneous broadening in rf spectroscopy of optically trapped atoms
We present a novel method for reducing the inhomogeneous frequency broadening
in the hyperfine splitting of the ground state of optically trapped atoms. This
reduction is achieved by the addition of a weak light field, spatially
mode-matched with the trapping field and whose frequency is tuned in-between
the two hyperfine levels. We experimentally demonstrate the new scheme with Rb
85 atoms, and report a 50-fold narrowing of the rf spectrum
Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped dipolar gases
We discuss Bose-Einstein condensation in a trapped gas of bosonic particles
interacting dominantly via dipole-dipole forces. We find that in this case the
mean-field interparticle interaction and, hence, the stability diagram are
governed by the trapping geometry. Possible physical realisations include
ultracold heteronuclear molecules, or atoms with laser induced electric dipole
moments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Photoassociation inside an optical dipole trap: absolute rate coefficients and Franck-Condon factors
We present quantitative measurements of the photoassociation of cesium
molecules inside a far-detuned optical dipole trap. A model of the trap
depletion dynamics is derived which allows to extract absolute photoassociation
rate coefficients for the initial single-photon photoassociation step from
measured trap-loss spectra. The sensitivity of this approach is demonstrated by
measuring the Franck-Condon modulation of the weak photoassociation transitions
into the low vibrational levels of the outer well of the 0g- state that
correlates to the 6s+6p3/2 asymptote. The measurements are compared to
theoretical predictions. In a magneto-optical trap these transitions have
previously only been observed indirectly through ionization of ground state
molecules
Ultracold collisions of oxygen molecules
Collision cross sections and rate constants between two ground- state oxygen
molecules are investigated theoretically at translational energies below K and in zero magnetic field. We present calculations for elastic and spin-
changing inelastic collision rates for different isotopic combinations of
oxygen atoms as a prelude to understanding their collisional stability in
ultracold magnetic traps. A numerical analysis has been made in the framework
of a rigid- rotor model that accounts fully for the singlet, triplet, and
quintet potential energy surfaces in this system. The results offer insights
into the effectiveness of evaporative cooling and the properties of molecular
Bose- Einstein condensates, as well as estimates of collisional lifetimes in
magnetic traps. Specifically, looks like a good candidate for
ultracold studies, while is unlikely to survive evaporative
cooling. Since is representative of a wide class of molecules that
are paramagnetic in their ground state we conclude that many molecules can be
successfully magnetically trapped at ultralow temperatures.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Hyperfine Spectroscopy of Optically Trapped Atoms
We perform spectroscopy on the hyperfine splitting of Rb atoms trapped
in far-off-resonance optical traps. The existence of a spatially dependent
shift in the energy levels is shown to induce an inherent dephasing effect,
which causes a broadening of the spectroscopic line and hence an inhomogeneous
loss of atomic coherence at a much faster rate than the homogeneous one caused
by spontaneous photon scattering. We present here a number of approaches for
reducing this inhomogeneous broadening, based on trap geometry, additional
laser fields, and novel microwave pulse sequences. We then show how hyperfine
spectroscopy can be used to study quantum dynamics of optically trapped atoms.Comment: Review/Tutoria
Experimental Implementation of the Deutsch-Jozsa Algorithm for Three-Qubit Functions using Pure Coherent Molecular Superpositions
The Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm is experimentally demonstrated for three-qubit
functions using pure coherent superpositions of Li rovibrational
eigenstates. The function's character, either constant or balanced, is
evaluated by first imprinting the function, using a phase-shaped femtosecond
pulse, on a coherent superposition of the molecular states, and then projecting
the superposition onto an ionic final state, using a second femtosecond pulse
at a specific time delay
Chemical reactivity of ultracold polar molecules: investigation of H + HCl and H + DCl collisions
Quantum scattering calculations are reported for the H+HCl(v,j=0) and
H+DCl(v,j=0) collisions for vibrational levels v=0-2 of the diatoms.
Calculations were performed for incident kinetic energies in the range 10-7 to
10-1 eV, for total angular momentum J=0 and s-wave scattering in the entrance
channel of the collisions. Cross sections and rate coefficients are
characterized by resonance structures due to quasibound states associated with
the formation of the H...HCl and H...DCl van der Waals complexes in the
incident channel. For the H+HCl(v,j=0) collision for v=1,2, reactive scattering
leading to H_2 formation is found to dominate over non-reactive vibrational
quenching in the ultracold regime. Vibrational excitation of HCl from v=0 to
v=2 increases the zero-temperature limiting rate coefficient by about 8 orders
of magnitude.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Euro. Phys. J. topical issue on
"Ultracold Polar Molecules: Formation and Collisions
Macrodimers: ultralong range Rydberg molecules
We study long range interactions between two Rydberg atoms and predict the
existence of ultralong range Rydberg dimers with equilibrium distances of many
thousand Bohr radii. We calculate the dispersion coefficients ,
and for two rubidium atoms in the same excited level , and find
that they scale like , and , respectively. We show that
for certain molecular symmetries, these coefficients lead to long range
potential wells that can support molecular bound levels. Such macrodimers would
be very sensitive to their environment, and could probe weak interactions. We
suggest experiments to detect these macrodimers.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to PR
Ultrastable CO2 Laser Trapping of Lithium Fermions
We demonstrate an ultrastable CO2 laser trap that provides tight confinement
of neutral atoms with negligible optical scattering and minimal laser-noise-
induced heating. Using this method, fermionic 6Li atoms are stored in a 0.4 mK
deep well with a 1/e trap lifetime of 300 sec, consistent with a background
pressure of 10^(-11) Torr. To our knowledge, this is the longest storage time
ever achieved with an all-optical trap, comparable to the best reported
magnetic traps.Comment: 4 pages using REVTeX, 1 eps figur
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