arXiv subjects

Alan O. Jamison

Publications and source records attributed to Alan O. Jamison.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Advances in precision contrast interferometry with Yb Bose-Einstein condensates

Using a three-path contrast interferometer (CI) geometry and laser-pulse diffraction gratings, we create the first matter-wave interferometer with ytterbium (Yb) atoms. We present advances in contrast interferometry relevant to high-precision measurements. By comparing to a traditional atom interferometer, we demonstrate the immunity of the CI to vibrations for long interaction times (> 20 ms). We characterize and demonstrate control over the two largest systematic effects for a high-precision measurement of the fine structure constant via photon recoil with our interferometer: diffraction phases and atomic interactions. Diffraction phases are an important systematic for most interferometers using large-momentum transfer beam splitters; atomic interactions are a key concern for any BEC interferometer. Finally, we consider the prospects for a future sub-part per billion photon recoil measurement using a Yb CI.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Effects of gravitational confinement on bosonic asymmetric dark matter in stars

Considering the existence of old neutron stars puts strong limits on the dark matter/nucleon cross section for bosonic asymmetric dark matter. Key to these bounds is formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of the asymmetric dark matter particles. We consider the effects of the host neutron star's gravitational field on the BEC transition. We find this substantially shifts the transition temperature and so strengthens the bounds on cross section. In particular, for the well-motivated mass range of ~5-15 GeV, we improve previous bounds by an order of magnitude.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Production of quantum degenerate mixtures of ytterbium and lithium with controllable inter-species overlap

Quantum degenerate mixtures of alkali and spin-singlet atoms form the starting point for studying few- and many-body physics of mass-imbalanced pairs as well as the production of paramagnetic polar molecules. We recently reported the achievement of dual-species quantum degeneracy of a mixture of lithium and ytterbium atoms. Here we present details of the key experimental steps for the all-optical preparation of these mixtures. Further we demonstrate the use of the magnetic field gradient tool to compensate for the differential gravitational sag of the two species and control their spatial overlap.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Atomic Interactions in Precision Interferometry Using Bose-Einstein Condensates

We present theoretical tools for predicting and reducing the effects of atomic interactions in Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) interferometry experiments. To address mean-field shifts during free propagation, we derive a robust scaling solution that reduces the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation to a set of three simple differential equations valid for any interaction strength. To model the other common components of a BEC interferometer---condensate splitting, manipulation, and recombination---we generalize the slowly-varying envelope reduction, providing both analytic handles and dramatically improved simulations. Applying these tools to a BEC interferometer to measure the fine structure constant (Gupta, et al., 2002), we find agreement with the results of the original experiment and demonstrate that atomic interactions do not preclude measurement to better than part-per-billion accuracy, even for atomic species with relatively large scattering lengths. These tools help make BEC interferometry a viable choice for a broad class of precision measurements.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Quantum Degenerate Mixture of Ytterbium and Lithium Atoms

We have produced a quantum degenerate mixture of fermionic alkali 6Li and bosonic spin-singlet 174Yb gases. This was achieved using sympathetic cooling of lithium atoms by evaporatively cooled ytterbium atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. We observe co-existence of Bose condensed (T/T_c~0.8) 174Yb with 2.3*10^4 atoms and Fermi degenerate (T/T_F~0.3) 6Li with 1.2*10^4 atoms. Quasipure Bose-Einstein condensates of up to 3*10^4 174Yb atoms can be produced in single-species experiments. Our results mark a significant step toward studies of few and many-body physics with mixtures of alkali and alkaline-earth-like atoms, and for the production of paramagnetic polar molecules in the quantum regime. Our methods also establish a convenient scheme for producing quantum degenerate ytterbium atoms in a 1064nm optical dipole trap.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Sympathetic cooling in an optically trapped mixture of alkali and spin-singlet atoms

We report on the realization of a stable mixture of ultracold lithium and ytterbium atoms confined in a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap. We observe sympathetic cooling of 6Li by 174Yb and extract the s-wave scattering length magnitude |a6Li-174Yb| = (13 \pm 3)a0 from the rate of inter-species thermalization. Using forced evaporative cooling of 174Yb, we achieve reduction of the 6Li temperature to below the Fermi temperature, purely through inter-species sympathetic cooling.

physics.atom-ph↗