Adiabatic radio frequency potentials for the coherent manipulation of matter waves

Adiabatic dressed state potentials are created when magnetic sub-states of trapped atoms are coupled by a radio frequency field. We discuss their theoretical foundations and point out fundamental advantages over potentials purely based on static fields. The enhanced flexibility enables one to implement numerous novel configurations, including double wells, Mach-Zehnder and Sagnac interferometers which even allows for internal state-dependent atom manipulation. These can be realized using simple and highly integrated wire geometries on atom chips.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

An optical lattice on an atom chip

Optical dipole traps and atom chips are two very powerful tools for the quantum manipulation of neutral atoms. We demonstrate that both methods can be combined by creating an optical lattice potential on an atom chip. A red-detuned laser beam is retro-reflected using the atom chip surface as a high-quality mirror, generating a vertical array of purely optical oblate traps. We load thermal atoms from the chip into the lattice and observe cooling into the two-dimensional regime where the thermal energy is smaller than a quantum of transverse excitation. Using a chip-generated Bose-Einstein condensate, we demonstrate coherent Bloch oscillations in the lattice.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Hadron multiplicities in e+e- annihilation with heavy primary quarks

The multiple hadron production in the events induced by the heavy primary quarks in $e^+e^-$ annihilation is reconsidered with account of corrected experimental data. New value for the multiplicity in $b\bar{b}$ events is presented on the basis of pQCD estimates.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. Version accepted for publication in EPJ

Prospects for measuring the 229Th isomer energy using a metallic magnetic microcalorimeter

The Thorium-229 isotope features a nuclear isomer state with an extremely low energy. The currently most accepted energy value, 7.8 +- 0.5 eV, was obtained from an indirect measurement using a NASA x-ray microcalorimeter with an instrumental resolution 26 eV. We study, how state-of-the-art magnetic metallic microcalorimeters with an energy resolution down to a few eV can be used to measure the isomer energy. In particular, resolving the 29.18 keV doublet in the \gamma-spectrum following the \alpha-decay of Uranium-233, corresponding to the decay into the ground and isomer state, allows to measure the isomer transition energy without additional theoretical input parameters, and increase the energy accuracy. We study the possibility of resolving the 29.18 keV line as a doublet and the dependence of the attainable precision of the energy measurement on the signal and background count rates and the instrumental resolution.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures, eq. (3) correcte

Noise Thermometry with Two Weakly Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates

Here we report on the experimental investigation of thermally induced fluctuations of the relative phase between two Bose-Einstein condensates which are coupled via tunneling. The experimental control over the coupling strength and the temperature of the thermal background allows for the quantitative analysis of the phase fluctuations. Furthermore, we demonstrate the application of these measurements for thermometry in a regime where standard methods fail. With this we confirm that the heat capacity of an ideal Bose gas deviates from that of a classical gas as predicted by the third law of thermodynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Effect of Magnetization Inhomogeneity on Magnetic Microtraps for Atoms

We report on the origin of fragmentation of ultracold atoms observed on a permanent magnetic film atom chip. A novel technique is used to characterize small spatial variations of the magnetic field near the film surface using radio frequency spectroscopy of the trapped atoms. Direct observations indicate the fragmentation is due to a corrugation of the magnetic potential caused by long range inhomogeneity in the film magnetization. A model which takes into account two-dimensional variations of the film magnetization is consistent with the observations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Multiple hadron production in e+e- annihilation induced by heavy primary quarks. New analysis

In this paper we present an analysis of the multiple hadron production induced by primary heavy quarks in e+e- annihilation with the account of most complete and corrected experimental data. In the framework of perturbative QCD, new theoretical bounds on the asymptotically constant differences of the multiplicities in processes with light and heavy quarks are given.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Particles & Nucle

Nonlinear transport of Bose-Einstein condensates through mesoscopic waveguides

We study the coherent flow of interacting Bose-condensed atoms in mesoscopic waveguide geometries. Analytical and numerical methods, based on the mean-field description of the condensate, are developed to study both stationary as well as time-dependent propagation processes. We apply these methods to the propagation of a condensate through an atomic quantum dot in a waveguide, discuss the nonlinear transmission spectrum and show that resonant transport is generally suppressed due to an interaction-induced bistability phenomenon. Finally, we establish a link between the nonlinear features of the transmission spectrum and the self-consistent quasi-bound states of the quantum dot.Comment: 23 pages, 16 figure

Report of the Subgroup on Alternative Models and New Ideas

We summarize some of the work done by the P3 subgroup on Alternative Models and New Ideas. The working group covered a broad range of topics including a constrained Standard Model from an extra dimension, a discussion of recent ideas addressing the strong CP problem, searches for doubly charged higgs bosons in e gamma collisions, and an update on discovery limits for extra neutral gauge bosons at hadron colliders. The breadth of topics reflects the many ideas and approaches to physics beyond the Standard Model.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Contributed to the APS/DPF/DPB Summer Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2001), Snowmass, Colorado, 30 Jun - 21 Jul 200