Observation of multichannel collisions of cold metastable calcium atoms

Recent theoretical work indicates that collisions between metastable alkaline-earth atoms (AEAs) in the presence of external magnetic fields should be largely determined by partial waves with large angular momenta even at very low temperatures. Unusually large inelastic collision cross sections were predicted and doubts have been raised regarding the feasibility of evaporative cooling of metastable AEAs in magnetic traps. Here we present experimental data for 40Ca[4s4p]3 P2 clearly confirming the asserted multichannel character of the collision mechanism. While elastic cross sections are found to be similar to the predicted values, inelastic cross sections exceed the calculations by an order of magnitude. Our results substantiate the expectation of inefficient evaporative cooling.     

Multi-dark-state resonances in cold multi-Zeeman-sublevel atoms

We present our experimental and theoretical studies of multi-dark-state resonances (MDSRs) generated in a unique cold rubidium atomic system with only one coupling laser beam. Such MDSRs are caused by different transition strengths of the strong coupling beam connecting different Zeeman sublevels. Controlling the transparency windows in such an electromagnetically induced transparency system can have potential applications in multiwavelength optical communication and quantum information processing.     

Observation of Feshbach-like resonances in collisions between ultracold molecules

We observe magnetically tuned collision resonances for ultracold Cs2 molecules stored in a CO2-laser trap. By magnetically levitating the molecules against gravity, we precisely measure their magnetic moment. We find an avoided level crossing which allows us to transfer the molecules into another state. In the new state, two Feshbach-like collision resonances show up as strong inelastic loss features. We interpret these resonances as being induced by Cs4 bound states near the molecular scattering continuum. The tunability of the interactions between molecules opens up novel applications such as controlled chemical reactions and synthesis of ultracold complex molecules.     

Excitation of autoionization resonances in collisions of helium atoms with fast ions

A theoretical model of collisions between fast ions and atoms is proposed which describes the effect of projectiles on the excitation of autoionization resonances. The model takes into account the change in the binding energy of electrons in a target atom induced by the field of a projectile, the effect of the field of the atom on the kinematics of the ion scattering, as well as the effect of the intermediate (1snl)¹ L states on the two-electron excitation mechanism. The charge dependence of the excitation cross section of the (2s ²)¹ S and (2s2p)¹ P resonances is found to be weaker than in the first order of the perturbation theory and is in qualitative agreement with experimental data. The reasons for the emergence of such a charge dependence are analyzed.     

Microwave coherent manipulation of cold atoms in optically induced fictitious magnetic traps on an atom chip

We propose a novel on-chip platform for controlling and manipulating cold atoms precisely and coherently. The scheme is achieved by producing optically induced fictitious magnetic traps(OFMTs) with 790 nm(for ~(87)Rb) circularly polarized laser beams and state-dependent potentials simultaneously for two internal atomic states with microwave coplanar waveguides. We carry out numerical calculations and simulations for controlled collisional interactions between OFMTs and addressable single atoms' manipulation on our designed hybrid atom chips. The results show that our proposed platform is feasible and flexible, which has wide applications including collisional dynamics investigation, entanglement generation,and scalable quantum gates implementation.     

Resonant control of elastic collisions in an optically trapped fermi gas of atoms

We have loaded an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms into a far-off resonance optical dipole trap and precisely controlled the spin composition of the trapped gas. We have measured a magnetic-field Feshbach resonance between atoms in the two lowest energy spin states, /9/2,-9/2> and /9/2,-7/2>. The resonance peaks at a magnetic field of 201.5+/-1.4 G and has a width of 8.0+/-1.1 G. Using this resonance, we have changed the elastic collision cross section in the gas by nearly 3 orders of magnitude.     

Magnetic field dependence of ultracold inelastic collisions near a feshbach resonance

Inelastic collision rates for ultracold 85Rb atoms in the F = 2, m(f) = -2 state have been measured as a function of magnetic field. At 250 gauss (G), the two- and three-body loss rates were measured to be K2 = (1.87+/-0.95+/-0.19)x10(-14) cm(3)/s and K3 = (4.24(+0. 70)(-0.29)+/-0.85)x10(-25) cm(6)/s, respectively. As the magnetic field is decreased from 250 G towards a Feshbach resonance at 155 G, the inelastic rates decrease to a minimum and then increase dramatically, peaking at the Feshbach resonance. Both two- and three-body losses are important, and individual contributions have been compared with theory.     

Observation of transverse instabilities in optically induced lattices

We study experimentally the Bloch-wave instabilities in optically induced photonic lattices. We reveal two different instability scenarios associated with either the transverse modulational instability of a single Bloch wave or the nonlinear interband coupling between different Bloch waves. We show that the transverse instability is greatly enhanced in the induced lattice in comparison with homogeneous media.     

Creating ground state molecules with optical feshbach resonances in tight traps

We propose to create ultracold ground state molecules in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate by adiabatic crossing of an optical Feshbach resonance. We envision a scheme where the laser intensity and possibly also frequency are linearly ramped over the resonance. Our calculations for (87)Rb show that for sufficiently tight traps it is possible to avoid spontaneous emission while retaining adiabaticity, and conversion efficiencies of up to 50% can be expected.     

Photo induced collisions with laser cooled He* atoms

This paper presents an experimental investigation of cold collisions between metastable helium atoms in an optical trap at 1 mK. Penning (PI) and associative (AI) ionization reactions are distinguished using a mass spectrometer and studied under influence of near resonant laser light. Dramatic enhancement, by more than a factor 15, of the ion rate is observed when the laser is tuned close to resonance. Experimental findings are well-described, on an absolute scale, by model predictions. Received: 9 February 1998 / Revised: 4 May 1998 / Accepted: 14 May 1998     

Evolution of an optically pumped ensemble of cold ground-state atoms in weak light fields

The evolution of multipole moments is analyzed for optically pumped cold ground-state atoms in the limit of low saturation of a closed j₀ → j₁ dipole transition. The longest multipole-moment relaxation times are analyzed as functions of ellipticity and frequency detuning from resonance for transitions with j₀ ? 5. The qualitative difference between the evolution toward steady-state Zeeman sublevel populations and dynamics of transient spontaneous emission is demonstrated for transitions of the following types: j → j?1, j → j with integer j, j → j with half-integer j, and j → j + 1.     

Frequency mixing using electromagnetically induced transparency in cold atoms

We report the first experimental demonstration of four-wave mixing using electromagnetically induced transparency in cold atoms. Backward-wave, phase-matched difference-frequency conversion is achieved at optical powers of a few nanowatts and at energies of less than a picojoule.     

相干诱导冷原子微腔中的动态光存储

将行波耦合激光、驻波光栅激光和静磁场作用于一个超冷原子系综,获得了由两个Bragg反射区和一个电磁感应透明区构成的动态可控光学微腔。对耦合激光、光栅激光和静磁场进行时间调制,将一个弱探测激光送入这一相干诱导光学微腔,使其形成周期振荡,然后再根据需要在一定时间延迟之后将其导出,将这一伴随着较弱能量损耗的探测脉冲受限传播过程视为一个有效的动态光存储机制。对提出的信息存储机制进行了数值模拟,讨论了它的优点和实用价值,提出了它的发展前景。     

Observation of sharp resonances in the spontaneous Raman spectrum of a single optically levitated microdroplet

Sharp resonances have been observed in the spontaneous Raman spectra of single, optically levitated microdroplets. The droplets, 10 to 35 μm in diameter, were suspended by a CW argon laser beam which also served as the Raman excitation source. Experiments with dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and silicone oil confirmed that all Raman bands present in the bulk liquid spectra were also observable in the levitated droplet spectra, in agreement with previous micro-Raman studies of droplets on substrates. However, superimposed on the spectra of the levitated droplets was a series of sharp features not present in the bulk liquid spectra. Time-resolved experiments with growing DOP droplets showed that the sharp Raman features have the same origin as the elastic light scattering and flourescence resonances observed in previous studies of microspheres and fibers.     

Observation of a resonant four-body interaction in cold cesium Rydberg atoms

Cold Rydberg atoms subject to long-range dipole-dipole interactions represent a particularly interesting system for exploring few-body interactions and probing the transition from 2-body physics to the many-body regime. In this work we report the direct observation of a resonant 4-body Rydberg interaction. We exploit the occurrence of an accidental quasicoincidence of a 2-body and a 4-body resonant Stark-tuned F?rster process in cesium to observe a resonant energy transfer requiring the simultaneous interaction of at least four neighboring atoms. These results are relevant for the implementation of quantum gates with Rydberg atoms and for further studies of many-body physics.     

Observation of V-type electromagnetically induced transparency and optical switch in cold Cs atoms by using nanofiber optical lattice

Optical nanofiber (ONF) is a special tool to achieve the interaction between light and matter with ultralow power. In this paper, we demonstrate V-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in cold atoms trapped by an ONF-based two-color optical lattice. At an optical depth of 7.35, 90% transmission can be achieved by only 7.7 pW coupling power. The EIT peak and linewidth are investigated as a function of the coupling optical power. By modulating the pW-level control beam of the ONF-EIT system in sequence, we further achieve efficient and high contrast control of the probe transmission, as well as its potential application in the field of quantum communication and quantum information science by using one-dimensional atomic chains.     

Observation of discrete vortex solitons in optically induced photonic lattices

We report on the first experimental observation of discrete vortex solitons in two-dimensional optically induced photonic lattices. We demonstrate strong stabilization of an optical vortex by the lattice in a self-focusing nonlinear medium and study the generation of the discrete vortices from a broad class of singular beams.     

BCS-BEC crossover in a gas of Fermi atoms with a p-wave feshbach resonance

We investigate unconventional superfluidity in a gas of Fermi atoms with an anisotropic p-wave Feshbach resonance. Including the p-wave Feshbach resonance as well as the associated three kinds of quasimolecules with finite orbital angular momenta Lz=+/-1,0, we calculate the transition temperature of the superfluid phase. As one passes through the p-wave Feshbach resonance, we find the usual BCS-BEC crossover phenomenon. The p-wave BCS state continuously changes into the BEC of bound molecules with L=1. Our calculation includes the effect of fluctuations associated with Cooper pairs and molecules which are not Bose condensed.     

Giant resonances of endohedral atoms

It is demonstrated for the first time that the effect of a fullerene shell on the photoionization of a “caged” atom in an endohedral can result in the formation of giant endohedral resonances or GER. This is illustrated by the concrete case of the Xe@C₆₀ photoionization cross section that, at 17 eV, exhibits a powerful resonance with total oscillator strengths of about 25. The prominent modification of the 5p ⁶ electron photoionization cross section of Xe@C₆₀ takes place due to the strong fullerene shell polarization under the action of the incoming electromagnetic wave and the oscillation of this cross section due to the reflection of the photoelectron from Xe by the C₆₀. These two factors transform the smoothly decreasing 5p ⁶ cross section of Xe into a rather complex curve with a powerful maximum for Xe@C₆₀, with the oscillator strength of it being equal to 25. We also present the results for the dipole angular anisotropy parameter that is strongly affected by the reflection of the photoelectron waves, but not modified by C₆₀ polarization. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Production of hadron resonances in heavy-ion collisions

The role of microscopic kinetics in the production of short-lived (broad) hadron resonances from subhadronic nuclear matter is considered. Anew approach to calculating the multiplicity of broad meson resonances is proposed. This approach takes explicitly into account the possibility that massive constituent quarks play a decisive role at the last stage of the expansion and cooling of matter produced in the central collisions of relativistic heavy nuclei. The resulting theoretical estimates are comparedwith available experimental data, and some quantitative and qualitative predictions are made.