24 research outputs found
Atom Interferometers
Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of
atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from
crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic
clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with
many applications in modern science. In this review we first describe the basic
tools for coherent atom optics including diffraction by nanostructures and
laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on AtomChips. Then
we review scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted
from the application of atom interferometers. These are grouped in three
categories: (1) fundamental quantum science, (2) precision metrology and (3)
atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose Einstein
condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave
optics, i.e. phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.Comment: submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic
Brexit and the Cultural Sector
A collaborative ebook on the effects of the Brexit vote on the UK's cultural sector and its agents: "It's not just the economy, stupid! Brexit and the Cultural Sector", edited by Gesa Stedman and Sandra van Lente.
Our contributors come from a broad range of cultural and artistic practice and many of them worry about two aspects which have come to the fore in the context of Brexit: the stark social rift which separates the Leave and Remain camps, and the nasty rise of xenophobia and insularity in all its different shapes and forms.
Although our authors do not intend to be read or viewed as all-encompassing, and although they differ in respect to the focus they chose for their essays, poems, or statements, one aspect unifies their utterances: passion. Passion for the multi-faceted characteristics of culture, language, exchange, dialogue, border-crossings, passion for an outward-looking approach to both Britain, its different nations, and its neighbours close and far. A passionate fear of what Britain might lose in the process of departing from the EU. And the fear of loss does not concentrate on the loss of revenue or even on the probable obstacles to travel and artistic exchange once Brexit is in place. But the loss of ambivalence and ambiguity, the loss of conflicting opinions, texts, stances, diversity, in short: everything that culture, which is free to find its own forms of expression, is valued for
Resonant nonlinear magneto-optical effects in atoms
In this article, we review the history, current status, physical mechanisms,
experimental methods, and applications of nonlinear magneto-optical effects in
atomic vapors. We begin by describing the pioneering work of Macaluso and
Corbino over a century ago on linear magneto-optical effects (in which the
properties of the medium do not depend on the light power) in the vicinity of
atomic resonances, and contrast these effects with various nonlinear
magneto-optical phenomena that have been studied both theoretically and
experimentally since the late 1960s. In recent years, the field of nonlinear
magneto-optics has experienced a revival of interest that has led to a number
of developments, including the observation of ultra-narrow (1-Hz)
magneto-optical resonances, applications in sensitive magnetometry, nonlinear
magneto-optical tomography, and the possibility of a search for parity- and
time-reversal-invariance violation in atoms.Comment: 51 pages, 23 figures, to appear in Rev. Mod. Phys. in Oct. 2002,
Figure added, typos corrected, text edited for clarit