688 research outputs found
A Waveguide for Bose-Einstein Condensates
We report on the creation of Bose-Einstein condensates of Rb in a
specially designed hybrid, dipole and magnetic trap. This trap naturally allows
the coherent transfer of matter waves into a pure dipole potential waveguide
based on a doughnut beam. Specifically, we present studies of the coherence of
the ensemble in the hybrid trap and during the evolution in the waveguide by
means of an autocorrelation interferometer scheme. By monitoring the expansion
of the ensemble in the waveguide we observe a mean field dominated acceleration
on a much longer time scale than in the free 3D expansion. Both the
autocorrelation interference and the pure expansion measurements are in
excellent agreement with theoretical predictions of the ensemble dynamics
Quantum computing with spatially delocalized qubits
We analyze the operation of quantum gates for neutral atoms with qubits that
are delocalized in space, i.e., the computational basis states are defined by
the presence of a neutral atom in the ground state of one out of two trapping
potentials. The implementation of single qubit gates as well as a controlled
phase gate between two qubits is discussed and explicit calculations are
presented for rubidium atoms in optical microtraps. Furthermore, we show how
multi-qubit highly entangled states can be created in this scheme.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Interferometer-Type Structures for Guided Atoms
We experimentally demonstrate interferometer-type guiding structures for
neutral atoms based on dipole potentials created by micro-fabricated optical
systems. As a central element we use an array of atom waveguides being formed
by focusing a red-detuned laser beam with an array of cylindrical microlenses.
Combining two of these arrays, we realize X-shaped beam splitters and more
complex systems like the geometries for Mach-Zehnder and Michelson-type
interferometers for atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Towards a Mg lattice clock: Observation of the transition and determination of the magic wavelength
We optically excite the electronic state in Mg atoms,
laser-cooled and trapped in a magic-wavelength lattice. An applied magnetic
field enhances the coupling of the light to the otherwise strictly forbidden
transition. We determine the magic wavelength, the quadratic magnetic Zeeman
shift and the transition frequency to be 468.463(207)nm,
-206.6(2.0)MHz/T and 655 058 646 691(101)kHz, respectively. These
are compared with theoretical predictions and results from complementary
experiments. We also developed a high-precision relativistic structure model
for magnesium, give an improved theoretical value for the blackbody radiation
shift and discuss a clock based on bosonic magnesium.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Dynamics of Bloch Oscillations in Disordered Lattice Potentials
We present a detailed analysis of the dynamics of Bloch oscillations of
Bose-Einstein condensates in disordered lattice potentials. Due to the disorder
and the interparticle interactions these oscillations undergo a dephasing,
reflected in a damping of the center of mass oscillations, which should be
observable under realistic experimental conditions. The interplay between
interactions and disorder is far from trivial, ranging from an
interaction-enhanced damping due to modulational instability for strong
interactions, to an interaction-reduced damping due to a dynamical screening of
the disorder potential
Phase Fluctuations in Bose-Einstein Condensates
We demonstrate the existence of phase fluctuations in elongated Bose-Einstein
Condensates (BECs) and study the dependence of those fluctuations on the system
parameters. A strong dependence on temperature, atom number, and trapping
geometry is observed. Phase fluctuations directly affect the coherence
properties of BECs. In particular, we observe instances where the phase
coherence length is significantly smaller than the condensate size. Our method
of detecting phase fluctuations is based on their transformation into density
modulations after ballistic expansion. An analytic theory describing this
transformation is developed.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Parametric amplification of vacuum fluctuations in a spinor condensate
Parametric amplification of vacuum fluctuations is crucial in modern quantum
optics, enabling the creation of squeezing and entanglement. We demonstrate the
parametric amplification of vacuum fluctuations for matter waves using a spinor
F=2 Rb-87 condensate. Interatomic interactions lead to correlated pair creation
in the m_F= +/- 1 states from an initial unstable m_F=0 condensate, which acts
as a vacuum for m_F unequal 0. Although this pair creation from a pure m_F=0
condensate is ideally triggered by vacuum fluctuations, unavoidable spurious
initial m_F= +/- 1 atoms induce a classical seed which may become the dominant
triggering mechanism. We show that pair creation is insensitive to a classical
seed for sufficiently large magnetic fields, demonstrating the dominant role of
vacuum fluctuations. The presented system thus provides a direct path towards
the generation of non-classical states of matter on the basis of spinor
condensates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
- …