Cooling trapped atoms in optical resonators

We derive an equation for the cooling dynamics of the quantum motion of an atom trapped by an external potential inside an optical resonator. This equation has broad validity and allows us to identify novel regimes where the motion can be efficiently cooled to the potential ground state. Our result shows that the motion is critically affected by quantum correlations induced by the mechanical coupling with the resonator, which may lead to selective suppression of certain transitions for the appropriate parameters regimes, thereby increasing the cooling efficiency.     

Quantum computation with trapped ions in an optical cavity

Two-qubit logical gates are proposed on the basis of two atoms trapped in a cavity setup and commonly addressed by laser fields. Losses in the interaction by spontaneous transitions are efficiently suppressed by employing adiabatic transitions and the quantum Zeno effect. Dynamical and geometrical conditional phase gates are suggested. This method provides fidelity and a success rate of its gates very close to unity. Hence, it is suitable for performing quantum computation.     

Detecting magnetically guided atoms with an optical cavity

We show that a low-finesse cavity can be efficient for detecting neutral atoms. The low finesse can be compensated for by decreasing the mode waist of the cavity. We have used a near-concentric resonator with a beam waist of 12 microm and a finesse of only 1100 to detect magnetically guided Rb atoms with a detection sensitivity of 0.1 atom in the mode volume. For future experiments on single-atom detection and cavity QED applications, it should be beneficial to use miniaturized optical resonators integrated on atom chips.     

Observation of collective-emission-induced cooling of atoms in an optical cavity

We report the observation of collective-emission-induced, velocity-dependent light forces. One-third of a falling sample containing 3 x 10(6) cesium atoms illuminated by a horizontal standing wave is stopped by cooperatively emitting light into a vertically oriented, confocal resonator. We observe decelerations up to 1500 m/s(2) and cooling to temperatures as low as 7 microK, well below the free-space Doppler limit. The measured forces substantially exceed those predicted for a single two-level atom.     

Optical multistability in three-level atoms inside an optical ring cavity

Optical multistability in an optical ring cavity filled with a collection of three-level Lambda-type rubidium atoms has been experimentally demonstrated. The observed multistability is very sensitive to the induced atomic coherence in the system and can evolve from a normal bistable behavior with the change of the coupling field as well as the atomic number density. The underlying mechanism for the formation of such multistability is also discussed.     

光晶格中超冷原子系统的磁激发

囚禁在光学晶格中的旋量凝聚体由于其长的相干性和可调控性,使其成为时下热点的多比特量子计算的潜在候选载体,清楚地了解该体系的自旋和磁性的产生和调控就显得尤为重要.本文主要从理论上回顾了光晶格原子自旋链的磁性的由来和操控手段.从激光冷却原子出发,制备旋量玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体,并装载进光晶格,最后实现原子自旋链,对整个过程的理论研究进行了综述;就如何产生和操控自旋激发进行了详细探讨,其中包括磁孤子的制备;讨论了如何将原子自旋链应用于量子模拟.对光学晶格中的磁激发研究将会对其在冷原子物理、凝聚态物理、量子信息等各方向的应用起指导性作用.     

State-insensitive cooling and trapping of single atoms in an optical cavity

Single cesium atoms are cooled and trapped inside a small optical cavity by way of a novel far-off-resonance dipole-force trap, with observed lifetimes of 2-3 s. Trapped atoms are observed continuously via transmission of a strongly coupled probe beam, with individual events lasting approximately 1 s. The loss of successive atoms from the trap N>/=3-->2-->1-->0 is thereby monitored in real time. Trapping, cooling, and interactions with strong coupling are enabled by the trap potential, for which the center-of-mass motion is only weakly dependent on the atom's internal state.     

Quantum phase transition of cold atoms trapped in optical lattices

We review our recent theoretical advances in phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices, such as triangular lattice, honeycomb lattice, and Kagomé lattice. By employing the new developed numerical methods called dynamical cluster approximation and cellular dynamical mean-field theory, the properties in different phases of cold atoms in optical lattices are studied, such as density of states, Fermi surface and double occupancy. On triangular lattice, a reentrant behavior of phase translation line between Fermi liquid state and pseudogap state is found due to the Kondo effect. We find the system undergoes a second order Mott transition from a metallic state into a Mott insulator state on honeycomb lattice and triangular Kagomé lattice. The stability of quantum spin Hall phase towards interaction on honeycomb lattice with spin-orbital coupling is systematically discussed. And we investigate the transition from quantum spin Hall insulator to normal insulator in Kagomé lattice which includes a nearest-neighbor intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and a trimerized Hamiltonian. In addition, we propose the experimental protocols to observe these phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices.     

Ultra-cold atoms in an optical cavity: two-mode laser locking to the cavity avoiding radiation pressure

The combination of ultra-cold atomic clouds with the light fields of optical cavities provides a powerful model system for the development of new types of laser cooling and for studying cooperative phenomena. These experiments critically depend on the precise tuning of an incident pump laser with respect to a cavity resonance. Here, we present a simple and reliable experimental tuning scheme based on a two-mode laser spectrometer. The scheme uses a first laser for probing higher-order transversal modes of the cavity having an intensity minimum near the cavity’s optical axis, where the atoms are confined by a magnetic trap. In this way the cavity resonance is observed without exposing the atoms to unwanted radiation pressure. A second laser, which is phase locked to the first and tuned close to a fundamental cavity mode, drives the coherent atom-field dynamics. PACS 42.50.Vk; 42.55.-f; 42.60.Lh; 34.50.-s     

Photon bunching and anti-bunching with two dipole-coupled atoms in an optical cavity

We investigate the effect of the dipole–dipole interaction(DDI) on the photon statistics with two atoms trapped in an optical cavity driven by a laser field and subjected to cooperative emission. By means of the quantum trajectory analysis and the second-order correlation functions, we show that the photon statistics of the cavity transmission can be flexibly modulated by the DDI while the incoming coherent laser selectively excites the atom–cavity system's nonlinear Jaynes–Cummings ladder of excited states. Finally, we find that the effect of the cooperatively atomic emission can also be revealed by the numerical simulations and can be explained with a simplified picture. The DDI induced nonlinearity gives rise to highly nonclassical photon emission from the cavity that is significant for quantum information processing and quantum communication.     

Controlling light by light with three-level atoms inside an optical cavity

We present our experimental demonstration of controlling the cavity output intensity of one laser beam with the intensity of another laser beam in a composite system consisting of a collection of three-level ?-type rubidium atoms and an optical ring cavity. When the intensity of the controlling beam is modulated with a square waveform, the cavity output power switches on and off (with a distinction ratio better than 20:1) between two steady-state values. This all-optical switching effect is the result of combined absorption and enhanced Kerr nonlinearity near resonance in such three-level atomic systems because of atomic coherence and can find applications in optical communication and optical computation.     

Chaotic dynamics of coupled two-level atoms in the optical cavity

Spin systems are one of the most promising candidates for quantum computation. At the same time, control of a system's quantum state during time evolution is one of the main problems. It is usually considered that in magnetic resonance the so-called resonance condition is sufficient to control the spin system. However, because of the nonlinearity of the system, obstructions to the control of the system's quantum state may emerge. In particular, the quantum dynamics of coupled two-level atoms in the optical cavity are studied in this work. The problem under consideration is a generalization of the paradigmatic model for Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model in the case of interacting spins. In this work, it is shown that the dynamics are chaotic when taking into account the center-of-mass motion of the system and the recoil effect. Furthermore, even in the case of zero detuning, chaotic dynamics emerge in the system. It is also shown in this work that, because of the chaotic dynamics the system executes an irreversible transition from a pure quantum-mechanical state to a mixed one. Irreversibility, in turn, is an obstacle for controlling the state of the quantum-mechanical system.     

Characterizing optical dipole trap via fluorescence of trapped cesium atoms

Optical dipole trap (ODT) is becoming an important tool of manipulating neutral atoms. In this paper ODT is realized with a far-off resonant laser beam strongly focused in the magneto-optical trap (MOT) of cesium atoms. The light shift is measured by simply monitoring the fluorescence of the atoms in the magneto-optical trap and the optical dipole trap simultaneously. The advantages of our experimental scheme are discussed, and the effect of the beam waist and power on the potential of dipole trap as well as heating rate is analyzed.     

Commensurability effects for fermionic atoms trapped in 1D optical lattices

Fermionic atoms in two different hyperfine states confined in optical lattices show strong commensurability effects due to the interplay between the atomic density wave ordering and the lattice potential. We show that spatially separated regions of commensurable and incommensurable phases can coexist. The commensurability between the harmonic trap and the lattice sites can be used to control the amplitude of the atomic density waves in the central region of the trap.     

Probing superfluidity of periodically trapped ultracold atoms in a cavity by transmission spectroscopy

We study a system of periodic Bose-condensed atoms coupled to cavity photons using the input-output formalism of [14]. We show for the first time that the cavity will either act as a through-pass Lorentzian filter when the superfluid fraction of the condensate is minimum, or completely reflect the input field when the superfluid fraction is maximum. We show that by monitoring the ratio between the transmitted field and the reflected field, one can estimate the superfluid fraction.     

Preparation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W states of three atoms trapped in one cavity through cavity output process

We propose a protocol to generate Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and W states of three atoms trapped in only one cavity. The setup involves one cavity and linear optical elements. The quantum information of each qubit is skillfully encoded on the degenerate ground states of the three different atoms, hence the entanglement between them is relatively stable against spontaneous emission. The advantages of the protocol are their robustness against detection inefficiency and asynchronous emission of the photons. We discuss the issue related to the practical implementation and show that the protocol is accessible within the current cavity QED technology and linear optical technology.     

Generation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states for three atoms trapped in a cavity beyond the strong-coupling regime

A scheme is proposed for generating maximally entangled states for three atoms trapped in a two-mode cavity. The scheme is based on resonant atom-cavity interaction and linear optics elements. The fidelity of the entangled state is not affected by both the decoherence and detection inefficiencies. The scheme works beyond the strong-coupling regime, which is important for high-fidelity entanglement engineering under realistic conditions.     

Rb原子磁光阱中囚禁原子数目与实验参数的依赖关系

研究表明，Rb原子磁光阱中所囚禁的原子数目对囚禁光的光强和失谐量，回泵光的强度以及磁场梯度有很大的依赖关系.用二能级系统模型对囚禁原子数目随囚禁光的光强和失谐量的变化关系进行了预估，理论预测的结果与实验结果定性符合.实验结果也展示了囚禁原子数目随回泵光的强度和磁场梯度的变化关系，要定量解释这些实验结果则需要更复杂的理论模型.通过囚禁原子数目对实验参数依赖关系的研究，得到特定的实验参数，来获得最大数目的冷原子. 关键词： 磁光阱 冷原子