Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv · cond-mat/0604312

Analysis of light-induced frequency shifts in the photoassociation of ultracold metastable helium atoms

Abstract

We present an exhaustive analysis of the light-induced frequency shifts of the photoassociation lines of ultracold metastable 4He* atoms in a magnetic trap. The measurements of the shifts of several vibrational levels bound in the purely long-range J=1,0u+ potential linked to the 23S1-23P0 asymptote were reported in a previous paper and are analyzed here. The simplicity of this system makes it very appropriate for a detailed study. Indeed, the purely long-range character of the excited potential allows one to calculate exact excited molecular wavefunctions and to use asymptotic expansions at large internuclear distances of the ground state wavefunctions appearing in Franck-Condon type integrals. Moreover, the number of collisional channels to be considered is strongly reduced by the absence of hyperfine structure for 4He* and the use of polarized ultracold atoms and polarized light. This allows us to derive semi-analytical expressions for the shifts showing explicitly their linear dependences on the s-wave scattering length a of spin polarized metastable 4He* atoms. This explains how it is possible to derive the measurement of a from these shifts.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Maximilien Portier, Steven Moal, Jaewan Kim, Michèle Leduc, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Olivier Dulieu. 2006-06-16. Analysis of light-induced frequency shifts in the photoassociation of ultracold metastable helium atoms. https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075%2F39%2F19%2Fs06

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Nanoscale Inclined Four-electrode Ion Traps: Finite-Element Modelling, Floquet Stability, and Surface-Potential Response

Developing miniaturised trapped-ion systems requires electrode architectures that provide controlled radio-frequency (RF) confinement while accounting for nanoscale features and surface-induced perturbations. Here, we present a finite-element investigation of an inclined four-blade RF ion-trap architecture for 171Yb+, combining pseudopotential characterisation, matrix Mathieu analysis, Floquet stability assessment, and localised surface-potential modelling. The architecture incorporates exposed electrode-face features of approximately 99-150 nm within an opposing-electrode separation of 20 um. At an electrode inclination of 6 degrees, an RF amplitude of 150 V, and a drive frequency of 15 MHz, the calculated pseudopotential exhibits directional in-plane barriers of 3.430 and 3.389 meV along the principal diagonal paths. The full RF-potential Hessian, including off-diagonal coupling terms, is used to construct the matrix Mathieu equation. Numerical propagation over one RF period identifies two dominant motional branches with secular-frequency estimates of 1.8137 and 1.8181 MHz. A third, predominantly axial branch exhibits a nominal frequency near 7.90 kHz, although its quantitative resolution is limited by the residual Hessian trace and phase-return drift. Additionally, a four-source electrostatic model is developed to investigate the effects of localised surface potentials on modal electric-field responses. Parametric analysis reveals correlation-dependent suppression and enhancement of normalised response coefficients, with multipliers ranging from approximately 0.5 to 1.5. This study establishes a computational framework for investigating nanoscale inclined blade-electrode architectures, their motional characteristics, and surface-potential responses, while highlighting numerical convergence requirements for reliable three-dimensional trap characterisation.

cond-mat.other↗

Chiral-vibration-induced magnetism and circular dichroism in organic molecules

We investigate the vibrational inverse Faraday effect and transient vibrational circular dichroism in benzene, coronene, and methane at the single-molecule level. We combine density-functional tight-binding calculations with damped normal-mode dynamics. Circularly polarized light excites suitable degenerate infrared-active modes, driving chiral nuclear motion that produces effective magnetic moments. Reversing the pump helicity reverses the vibrational chirality and the sign of the transient dichroic response. These results support a writing-readout scheme in which circularly polarized pumping prepares a chiral vibrational state and transient vibrational circular dichroism probes its handedness. We further examine how molecular symmetry shapes the light-induced chiral response across the three molecular systems. This work provides a valuable platform for exploring all-optical control of magnetism and chiroptical probing at the molecular scale.

cond-mat.other↗

A Construction Framework for Three-Dimensional Topological Magnetic Textures

Three-dimensional magnetic systems offer diverse possibilities for constructing complex topological textures from simpler magnetic configurations. Here, we present different routes for constructing complex three-dimensional magnetic textures from simpler parent configurations and discuss their impact on the topology of the resulting structures. We identify four construction principles: (i) adding transverse modulations, (ii) adding structures, (iii) entangling textures (e.g. braiding, or twisting), and (iv) introducing singularities. Using the skyrmion tube as an explicit parent configuration, we show how these principles give rise to several known three-dimensional magnetic textures. We then apply the same principles to predict novel textures derived from a meron tube, which are confirmed by micromagnetic simulations to be metastable in chiral magnets. Our results establish general principles for the systematic construction and discovery of complex three-dimensional magnetic textures.

cond-mat.other↗