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arXiv · 2308.13090

Inter-species spin-noise correlations in hot atomic vapors

Abstract

We report an experimental and theoretical study of spin noise correlations in a $^{87}$Rb-$^{133}$Cs unpolarized alkali-metal vapor dominated by spin-exchange collisions. We observe strong unequal-time inter-species correlations and account for these with a first-principles theoretical model. Since the two atomic species have different spin precession frequencies, the dual-species vapor enables the use of an additional experimental handle, the applied magnetic field, for untangling various sub-types of spin correlations. In particular, the measured cross-correlation and auto-correlation spectra shed light on a number of spin-dynamic effects involving intra-atom, inter-atom, intra-species and inter-species correlations. Cross-correlation coefficients exceeding $60\%$ have been observed at low-magnetic fields, where the two spin species couple strongly via spin-exchange collisions. The understanding of such spontaneously generated correlations can motivate the design of quantum-enhanced measurements with single or multi-species spin-polarized alkali-metal vapors used in quantum sensing applications.

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K. Mouloudakis, F. Vouzinas, A. Margaritakis, A. Koutsimpela, G. Mouloudakis, V. Koutrouli, M. Skotiniotis, G. P. Tsironis, M. Loulakis, M. W. Mitchell, G. Vasilakis, I. K. Kominis. 2023-08-24. Inter-species spin-noise correlations in hot atomic vapors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.108.052822

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