Observation of dark state polariton collapses and revivals

By time-dependent variation of a control field, both coherent and single-photon states of light are stored in, and retrieved from, a cold atomic gas. The efficiency of retrieval is studied as a function of the storage time in an applied magnetic field. A series of collapses and revivals is observed, in very good agreement with theoretical predictions. The observations are interpreted in terms of the time evolution of the collective excitation of atomic spin wave and light wave, known as the dark-state polariton.     

Phase-sensitive detection of bragg scattering at 1D optical lattices

We report on the observation of Bragg scattering at 1D atomic lattices. Cold atoms are confined by optical dipole forces at the antinodes of a standing wave generated by the two counterpropagating modes of a laser-driven high-finesse ring cavity. By heterodyning the Bragg-scattered light with a reference beam, we obtain detailed information on phase shifts imparted by the Bragg scattering process. Being deep in the Lamb-Dicke regime, the scattered light is not broadened by the motion of individual atoms.     

Dynamics of Two-Level Trapped Ion in a Standing Wave Laser in Noncommutative Space

We study the dynamics of a two-level trapped ion in a standing wave electromagnetic field in two-dimensional （2D） noncommutative spaces in the Lamb-Dicke regime under the rotating wave approximation. We obtain the explicit analytical expressions for the energy spectra, energy eigenstates, unitary time evolution operator, atomic inversion, and phonon number operators. The Rabi oscillations, the collapse, and revivals in the average atomic inversion and the average phonon number are explicitly shown to contain the information of the parameter of the space noncommutativity, which sheds light on proposing new schemes based on the dynamics of trapped ion to test the noncommutativity.     

Photon antibunching upon scattering by an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

Antibunching of photodetections from different modes is shown to arise when two quantized light modes are scattered by an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. This effect appears because of the uncertainty in the position of the condensate wave function relative to the optical lattice formed by the light beams. It is shown how the information contained in the history of photodetections leads to a spatial localization of the condensate wave function.     

Detection of BCS pairing in neutral fermi fluids via stokes scattering: the Hebel-Slichter effect

We consider the effects of superfluidity on the light scattering properties of a two component gas of fermionic atoms, demonstrating that the scattered intensities of the Stokes and anti-Stokes lines exhibit a large maximum below the critical temperature when the gas is superfluid. This effect, the light scattering analog of the Hebel-Slichter effect in conventional superconductors, can be used to detect unambiguously the onset of pairing in an atomic gas in the BCS regime.     

High-temperature superfluidity of fermionic atoms in optical lattices

Fermionic atoms confined in a potential created by standing wave light can undergo a phase transition to a superfluid state at a dramatically increased transition temperature. Depending upon carefully controlled parameters, a transition to a superfluid state of Cooper pairs, antiferromagnetic states or d-wave pairing states can be induced and probed under realistic experimental conditions. We describe an atomic physics experiment that can provide critical insight into the origin of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates.     

Ground-state properties of Fermi gases in the strongly interacting regime

The ground-state energies and pairing gaps in dilute superfluid Fermi gases have now been calculated with the quantum Monte Carlo method without detailed knowledge of their wave functions. However, such knowledge is essential to predict other properties of these gases such as density matrices and pair distribution functions. We present a new and simple method to optimize the wave functions of quantum fluids using the Green's function Monte Carlo method. It is used to calculate the pair distribution functions and potential energies of Fermi gases over the entire regime from atomic Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid to molecular Bose-Einstein condensation, spanned as the interaction strength is varied.     

矩形弹子球中的量子波包分析(英文)

利用波包分析量子力学体系的动力学行为在研究经典和量子的对应关系方面越来越成为一个非常重要的方法.利用高斯波包分析方法,我们计算了矩形弹子球体系的自关联函数,自关联函数的峰和经典周期轨道的周期符合的很好,这表明经典周期轨道的周期可以通过含时的量子波包方法产生.我们还讨论了矩形弹子球的波包回归和波包的部分回归,计算结果表明在每一个回归时间,波包出现精确的回归.对于动量为零的波包,初始位置在弹子球内部的特殊对称点处,出现一些时间比较短的附加的回归.     

Polarization changes and beam profile deformation of light during acousto-optic interaction in isotropic media

A spatial Fourier transform approach is proposed to investigate the effects of polarization changes and beam profile deformation of light during acousto-optic (AO) interaction in isotropic media. The behaviour of the total scattered optical fields inside the AO cell can be properly described by a vector wave equation of which the permittivity is perturbed by an acoustic wave propagating inside the medium. In the Bragg regime, using a spatial Fourier transform approach, two coupled differential equations can be derived from the wave equation to depict AO interaction in the spatial frequency domain. Analytic solutions, which comprise the effects of changing polarization, beam deformation and propagating diffraction, can be found from the coupled equations. Detailed numerical simulations, including Fourier transforming the incident light profile to calculate the spectra of the scattered light beams and, hence, their profiles in space using the inverse transform, are presented.     

The quantum acousto-optic effect in Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the interaction between a single mode light field and an elongated cigar shaped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), subject to a temporal modulation of the trap frequency in the tight confinement direction. Under appropriate conditions, the longitudinal sound like waves (Faraday waves) in the direction of weak confinement acts as a dynamic diffraction grating for the incident light field analogous to the acousto-optic effect in classical optics. The change in the refractive index due to the periodic modulation of the BEC density is responsible for the acousto-optic effect. The dynamics is characterised by Bragg scattering of light from the matter wave Faraday grating and simultaneous Bragg scattering of the condensate atoms from the optical grating formed due to the interference between the incident light and the diffracted light fields. Varying the intensity of the incident laser beam we observe the transition from the acousto-optic effect regime to the atomic Bragg scattering regime, where Rabi oscillations between two momentum levels of the atoms are observed. We show that the acousto-optic effect is reduced as the atomic interaction is increased.     

Bragg scattering of light in vacuum structured by strong periodic fields

Elastic scattering of laser radiation due to vacuum polarization by spatially modulated strong electromagnetic fields is considered. The Bragg interference arising at a specific impinging direction of the probe wave concentrates the scattered light in specular directions. The interference maxima are enhanced with respect to the usual vacuum polarization effect proportional to the square of the number of modulation periods within the interaction region. The Bragg scattering can be employed to detect the vacuum polarization effect in a setup of multiple crossed superstrong laser beams with parameters envisaged in the future Extreme Light Infrastructure.     

Vortex revivals with trapped light

We predict that vortex dipoles nested in light beams trapped in graded-index media can undergo closed Berry trajectories, yielding periodic vortex annihilations and revivals along the light-propagation direction. The vortex revivals from vortex-free wave fronts are mediated by Freund stationary point bundles that carry the necessary Poincaré-Hopf indices. Vortex spiraling and spontaneous generation of circular-edge dislocations are also found to occur.     

Optical Bragg,atomic Bragg and cavity QED detections of quantum phases and excitation spectra of ultracold atoms in bipartite and frustrated optical lattices

Ultracold atoms loaded on optical lattices can provide unprecedented experimental systems for the quantum simulations and manipulations of many quantum phases and quantum phase transitions between these phases. However, so far, how to detect these quantum phases and phase transitions effectively remains an outstanding challenge. In this paper, we will develop a systematic and unified theory of using the optical Bragg scattering, atomic Bragg scattering or cavity QED to detect the ground state and the excitation spectrum of many quantum phases of interacting bosons loaded in bipartite and frustrated optical lattices. The physically measurable quantities of the three experiments are the light scattering cross sections, the atom scattered clouds and the cavity leaking photons respectively. We show that the two photon Raman transition processes in the three detection methods not only couple to the density order parameter, but also the valence bond order parameter due to the hopping of the bosons on the lattice. This valence bond order coupling is very sensitive to any superfluid order or any valence bond (VB) order in the quantum phases to be probed. These quantum phases include not only the well-known superfluid and Mott insulating phases, but also other important phases such as various kinds of charge density waves (CDW), valence bond solids (VBS), and CDW-VBS phases with both CDW and VBS orders unique to frustrated lattices, and also various kinds of supersolids. We analyze respectively the experimental conditions of the three detection methods to probe these various quantum phases and their corresponding excitation spectra. We also address the effects of a finite temperature and a harmonic trap. We contrast the three scattering methods with recent in situ measurements inside a harmonic trap and argue that the two kinds of measurements are complementary to each other. The combination of both kinds of detection methods could be used to match the combination of Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), the Angle Resolved Photo Emission spectroscopy (ARPES) and neutron scattering in condensed matter systems, therefore achieve the putative goals of quantum simulations     

一般幂指数中心势作用下的波包回归和部分回归

利用WKB近似和自关联函数方法,我们研究了一般幂指数中心势V(r)=γrk (-20)作用下波包的回归和部分回归.对于排斥势(γ>0, k>0), 势是一长程势,量子化能级结构中只有一个量子数,波包的回归结构和一维幂指数势的情况类似.这一结果表明能级结构相同的体系具有相同的波包回归结构.对于吸引势,能级结构中有两个量子数, 当 k取不同的值时,波包的回归结构不同.对于库仑吸引势,波包回归和部分回归出现;但是对于其它的k值, 经过一段时间后,波包出现坍塌.本文的研究对于探讨里德堡原子和分子中电子运动的经典极限提供了一个新的方法.     

一般幂指数中心势作用下的波包回归和部分回归

利用WKB近似和自关联函数方法,我们研究了一般幂指数中心势V(r)=rk (-20)作用下波包的回归和部分回归。对于排斥势(>0, k>0), 势是一长程势,量子化能级结构中只有一个量子数,波包的回归结构和一维幂指数势的情况类似。这一结果表明能级结构相同的体系具有相同的波包回归结构。 对于吸引势,能级结构中有两个量子数, 当 k取不同的值时,波包的回归结构不同。对于库仑吸引势,波包回归和部分回归出现; 但是对于其它的k值, 经过一段时间后,波包出现坍塌。本文的研究对于探讨里德堡原子和分子中电子运动的经典极限提供了一个新的方法。     

Strong coupling of a surface-relief dielectric grating to a structurally chiral volume grating

The boundary-value problem of the reflection and transmission of light by a composite structure, wherein a surface-relief dielectric grating is coupled to a structurally chiral volume grating, has been formulated and solved with results showing the robust co-existence of phenomena characteristic of both types of grating: namely, Rayleigh–Wood anomalies and Bragg phenomena. A mechanism to strengthen the coupling between both grating types is included – namely, a quarter wave plate – whose birefringence converts normally incident linearly polarised light at the Bragg wavelength into transmitted circularly polarised light (and vice versa). It is possible to tailor the period of the sinusoidally corrugated surface-relief grating such that the scattering of obliquely incident light from above, by the surface grating, will lead to a specific non-specular order being scattered onto a path which is normally incident on the rest of the composite structure. Significantly, such orders exhibit the circular Bragg phenomenon in reflection and transmission only if both grating types are present, making this a “truly” coupled effect.     

Spectroscopy of superfluid pairing in atomic fermi gases

We study the dynamic structure factor for density and spin within the crossover from BCS superfluidity of atomic fermions to the Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules. Both structure factors are experimentally accessible via Bragg spectroscopy and allow for the identification of the pairing mechanism: the spin structure factor allows for the determination of the two particle gap, while the collective sound mode in the density structure reveals the superfluid state.     

Double-resonant extremely asymmetrical scattering of electromagnetic waves in periodic arrays separated by a gap

Two strong simultaneous resonances of scattering – double-resonant extremely asymmetrical scattering (DEAS) – are predicted in two parallel, oblique, periodic Bragg arrays separated by a gap, when the scattered wave propagates parallel to the arrays. One of these resonances is with respect to frequency (which is common to all types of Bragg scattering), and another is with respect to phase variation between the arrays. The diffractional divergence of the scattered wave is shown to be the main physical reason for DEAS in the considered structure. Although the arrays are separated, they are shown to interact by means of the diffractional divergence of the scattered wave across the gap from one array into the other. It is also shown that increasing separation between the two arrays results in a broader and weaker resonance with respect to phase shift. The analysis is based on a recently developed new approach allowing for the diffractional divergence of the scattered wave inside and outside the arrays. Physical interpretations of the predicted features of DEAS in separated arrays are also presented. Applicability conditions for the developed theory are derived.     

类Kerr介质中双模SU(1,1)相干态场与Λ型三能级原子相互作用的量子统计性质

导出了类Kerr介质中双模SU(1,1)相干态场与Λ型三能级原子相互作用系统的态函数,研究了Kerr效应对Λ型三能级原子布居概率、双模SU(1,1)相干态场的互关联函数、Cauchy-Schwartz不等式及二阶相干度的影响.结果表明:Kerr效应使原子与光场的耦合减弱,原子布居的崩塌与复苏的周期缩短;在初始光场较弱和较强两种情况下,类Kerr介质对双模SU(1,1)相干态场两模间的相关性、相关程度以及光子的聚束与反聚束效应产生的作用有明显的区别.