Atomic Physics

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Observation of Laughlin states made of light (1907.05872v1)

Logan W. Clark, Nathan Schine, Claire Baum, Ningyuan Jia, Jonathan Simon

2019-07-12

Much of the richness in nature emerges because the same simple constituents can form an endless variety of ordered states. While many such states are fully characterized by their symmetries, interacting quantum systems can also exhibit topological order, which is instead characterized by intricate patterns of entanglement. A paradigmatic example of such topological order is the Laughlin state, which minimizes the interaction energy of charged particles in a magnetic field and underlies the fractional quantum Hall effect. Broad efforts have arisen to enhance our understanding of these orders by forming Laughlin states in synthetic quantum systems, such as those composed of ultracold atoms or photons. In spite of these efforts, electron gases remain essentially the only physical system in which topological order has appeared. Here, we present the first observation of optical photon pairs in the Laughlin state. These pairs emerge from a photonic analog of a fractional quantum Hall system, which combines strong, Rydberg-mediated interactions between photons and synthetic magnetic fields for light, induced by twisting an optical resonator. Photons entering this system undergo collisions to form pairs in an angular momentum superposition consistent with the Laughlin state. Characterizing the same pairs in real space reveals that the photons avoid each other, a hallmark of the Laughlin state. This work heralds a new era of quantum many-body optics, where strongly interacting and topological photons enable exploration of quantum matter with wholly new properties and unique probes.

Spectroscopy of the 1001 nm transition in atomic dysprosium (1907.05754v1)

Niels Petersen, Marcel Trümper, Patrick Windpassinger

2019-07-12

We report on spectroscopy of cold dysprosium atoms on the transition and present measurements of the excited state lifetime which is at least long. Due to the long excited state lifetime we are able to measure the excited state polarizability at by parametric heating to be , which is in fair agreement to theoretical predictions. In addition we measure the isotope shifts of the three most abundant bosonic isotopes of dysprosium on the transition with an accuracy better than .

Quantum storage and manipulation of heralded single photons in atomic quantum memories (1907.05555v1)

Pin-Ju Tsai, Ya-Fen Hsiao, Ying-Cheng Chen

2019-07-12

We demonstrate the storage and manipulation of narrowband heralded single photons from a cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) source in the atomic quantum memory based on electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that nonclassical correlations are preserved between the heralding and the retrieved photons after storage process. By varying the intensity of the coupling field during retrieval process, we further demonstrate that the waveform or bandwidth of the single photons can be manipulated and the nonclassical correlation between the photon pairs can be even enhanced. Unlike previous works, our SPDC source is single mode in frequency, which not only reduces the experimental complexity arising from external filtering but also increases the useful photon generation rate. Our results can be scaled up with ease and thus lay the foundation for future realization of large-scale applications in quantum information processing.

Dark states of multilevel fermionic atoms in doubly-filled optical lattices (1907.05541v1)

A. Piñeiro Orioli, A. M. Rey

2019-07-12

We propose to use fermionic atoms with degenerate ground and excited internal levels (), loaded into the motional ground state of an optical lattice with two atoms per lattice site, to realize dark states with no radiative decay. The physical mechanism behind the dark states is an interplay of Pauli blocking and multilevel dipolar interactions. The dark states are independent of lattice geometry, can support an extensive number of excitations and can be coherently prepared using a Raman scheme taking advantage of the quantum Zeno effect. These attributes make them appealing for atomic clocks, quantum memories, and quantum information on decoherence free subspaces.

Quantum rotation sensing with dual Sagnac interferometrs in an atom-optical waveguide (1907.05466v1)

E. R. Moan, R. A. Horne, T. Arpornthip, Z. Luo, A. J. Fallon, S. J. Berl, C. A. Sackett

2019-07-11

Sensitive and accurate rotation sensing is a critical requirement for applications such as inertial navigation [1], north-finding [2], geophysical analysis [3], and tests of general relativity [4]. One effective technique used for rotation sensing is Sagnac interferometry, in which a wave is split, traverses two paths that enclose an area, and then recombined. The resulting interference signal depends on the rotation rate of the system and the area enclosed by the paths [5]. Optical Sagnac interferometers are an important component in present-day navigation systems [6], but suffer from limited sensitivity and stability. Interferometers using matter waves are intrinsically more sensitive and have demonstrated superior gyroscope performance [7-9], but the benefits have not been large enough to offset the substantial increase in apparatus size and complexity that atomic systems require. It has long been hoped that these problems might be overcome using atoms confined in a guiding potential or trap, as opposed to atoms falling in free space [10-12]. This allows the atoms to be supported against gravity, so a long measurement time can be achieved without requiring a large drop distance. The guiding potential can also be used to control the trajectory of the atoms, causing them to move in a circular loop that provides the optimum enclosed area for a given linear size [13]. Here we use such an approach to demonstrate a rotation measurement with Earth-rate sensitivity.

Physical swap dynamics, shortcuts to relaxation and entropy production in dissipative Rydberg gases (1812.02819v2)

Ricardo Gutiérrez, Juan P. Garrahan, Igor Lesanovsky

2018-12-06

Dense Rydberg gases are out-of-equilibrium systems where strong density-density interactions give rise to effective kinetic constraints. They cause dynamic arrest associated with highly-constrained many-body configurations, leading to slow relaxation and glassy behavior. Multi-component Rydberg gases feature additional long-range interactions such as excitation-exchange. These are analogous to particle swaps used to artificially accelerate relaxation in simulations of atomistic models of classical glass formers. In Rydberg gases, however, swaps are real physical processes, which provide dynamical shortcuts to relaxation. They permit the accelerated approach to stationarity in experiment and at the same time have an impact on the non-equilibrium stationary state. In particular their interplay with radiative decay processes amplifies irreversibility of the dynamics, an effect which we quantify via the entropy production at stationarity. Our work highlights an intriguing analogy between real dynamical processes in Rydberg gases and artificial dynamics underlying advanced Monte Carlo methods. Moreover, it delivers a quantitative characterization of the dramatic effect swaps have on the structure and dynamics of their stationary state.

Repeated Measurements with Minimally Destructive Partial-Transfer Absorption Imaging (1907.05372v1)

Erin Marshall Seroka, Ana Valdés Curiel, Dimitrios Trypogeorgos, Nathan Lundblad, Ian B. Spielman

2019-07-11

We demonstrate partial-transfer absorption imaging as a technique for repeatedly imaging an ultracold atomic ensemble with minimal perturbation. We prepare an atomic cloud in a state that is dark to the imaging light. We then use a microwave pulse to coherently transfer a small fraction of the ensemble to a bright state, which we image using in situ absorption imaging. The amplitude or duration of the microwave pulse controls the fractional transfer from the dark to the bright state. For small transfer fractions, we can image the atomic cloud up to 50 times before it is depleted. As a sample application, we repeatedly image an atomic cloud oscillating in a dipole trap to measure the trap frequency.

Segmented ion-trap fabrication using high precision stacked wafers (1907.05329v1)

Simon Ragg, Chiara Decaroli, Thomas Lutz, Jonathan P. Home

2019-07-11

We describe the use of laser-enhanced etching of fused silica in order to build multi-layer ion traps. This technique offers high precision of both machining and alignment of adjacent wafers. As examples of designs taking advantage of this possibility, we describe traps for realizing two key elements of scaling trapped ion systems. The first is a trap for a cavity-QED interface between single ions and photons, in which the fabrication allows shapes that provide good electro-static shielding of the ion from charge build-up on the mirror surfaces. The second incorporates two X-junctions allowing two-dimensional shuttling of ions. Here we are able to investigate designs which explore a trade-off between pseudo-potential barriers and confinement at the junction center. In both cases we illustrate the design constraints arising from the fabrication.

Optimization of the atom interferometer phase produced by the set of cylindrical source masses to measure the Newtonian gravity constant (1907.03352v2)

B. Dubetsky

2019-07-07

An analytical expression for the gravitational field of a homogeneous cylinder is derived. The phase of the atom interferometer produced by the gravity field of the set of cylinders has been calculated. The optimal values of the initial positions and velocities of atomic clouds were obtained. It is shown that at equal sizes of the atomic cloud in the vertical and transverse directions, as well as at equal atomic vertical and transverse temperatures, systematic errors due to the finite size and temperature of the cloud disappear. It is shown that, although the gravitational field of the Earth does not affect the phase double difference, it continues to affect the measurement accuracy of this signal. To overcome this influence, it is proposed to use the technique of eliminating gravity-gradient terms. Nonlinear dependences of the phase on the uncertainties of atomic positions and velocities required us to modify the expression for the standard phase deviation. Moreover, such dependencies lead to a phase shift, which was also calculated. The relative accuracy of measurements of Newtonian gravitational constant 10^{-4} and 2*10^{-5} is predicted for sets of 24 and 630 cylinders, respectively.

In-situ Raman gain between hyperfine ground states in a potassium magneto-optical trap (1906.05756v2)

Graeme Harvie, Adam Butcher, Jon Goldwin

2019-06-13

We study optical gain in a gas of cold 39K atoms. The gain is observed during operation of a conventional magneto-optical trap without the need for additional fields. Measurements of transmission spectra from a weak probe show that the gain is due to stimulated Raman scattering between hyperfine ground states. The experimental results are reproduced by a simplified six-level model, which also helps explain why such gain is not observed in similar experiments with rubidium or cesium.

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