arXiv · 1410.5451
Toward a test of angular momentum coherence in a twin-atom interferometer
Abstract
We present a scheme well-suited to investigate quantitatively the angular momentum coherence of molecular fragments. Assuming that the dissociated molecule has a null total angular momentum, we investigate the propagation of the corresponding atomic fragments in the apparatus. We show that the envisioned interferometer enables one to distinguish unambiguously a spin-coherent from a spin-incoherent dissociation, as well as to estimate the purity of the angular momentum density matrix associated with the fragments. This setup, which may be seen as an atomic analogue of a twin-photon interferometer, can be used to investigate the suitability of molecule dissociation processes -- such as the metastable hydrogen atoms H($2^2 S$)-H($2^2 S$) dissociation - for coherent twin-atom optics.
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Carlos R. de Carvalho, Ginette Jalbert, François Impens, J. Robert, Aline Medina, F. Zappa, N. V. de Castro Faria. 2014-10-20. Toward a test of angular momentum coherence in a twin-atom interferometer. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/110/50001
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