arXiv subjects

Matt Mackie

Publications and source records attributed to Matt Mackie.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Bose-Einstein Condensate of Trimers Dressed by Atom-Dimer Cooper Pairs

We theoretically examine the neutral atom-molecule analogue of the anomalous quantum correlations between degenerate electrons, i.e., Cooper pairs, that are responsible for superconductivity. Based on rogue dissociation of triatomic molecules (trimers) into opposite-momentum pairs of atoms and diatomic molecules (dimers) via a photoassociation or Feshbach resonance, we find a superfluid transition to a Bose-Einstein condensate of trimers dressed by atom-dimer Cooper pairs, at a critical temperature in reach of present ultracold technology.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2003

Anamalous Frequency Shift in Photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein Condensate

We theoretically investigate the effect of anomalous quantum correlations on the light-induced frequency shift in the photoassociation spectrum of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Anomalous quantum correlations arise because, although formed from a pair of zero-momentum condensate atoms, a condensate molecule need not dissociate back to the BEC, but may just as well form a noncondensate atom pair with equal and opposite momentum, i.e., due to rogue photodissociation. The uncorrelated frequency shift of the photoassociation spectrum is to the red and linearly dependent on the laser intensity. In contrast, anomalous correlations due to rogue dissociation lead to a blueshifted photoassociation spectrum. For sufficiently low light intensities, the rogue blueshift is dominant and proportional to the squareroot of intensity.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2003

Shortcut to a Fermi-Degenerate Gas of Molecules via Cooperative Association

We theoretically examine the creation of a Fermi-degenerate gas of molecules via a photoassociation or Feshbach resonance applied to a degenerate Bose-Fermi mixture of atoms. This problem raises an interest because, unlike bosons, fermions in general do not behave cooperatively, so that the collective conversion of, say, two million atoms into one million molecules is not to be expected. Nevertheless, we find that the coupled Fermi system displays collective Rabi-like oscillations and adiabatic passage between atoms and molecules, thereby mimicking Bose-Einstein statistics. Cooperative association of a degenerate mixture of Bose and Fermi gases could therefore serve as a shortcut to a degenerate gas of Fermi molecules.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2003

Rapid Adiabatic Passage from an Atomic to a Molecular Condensate

We examine collective magnetoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), focusing on rapid adiabatic passage from atoms to molecules induced by a sweep of the magnetic field across a wide (>~ 10 G) Feshbach resonance in 85Rb. This problem raises an interest because strong magnetoassociation is expected to favor the creation of molecular-dissociated atom pairs over the formation of molecular BEC [Javanainen and Mackie, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 090403 (2002)]. Nevertheless, the conversion to atom pairs is found to depend on the direction of the sweep, so that a system initially above threshold (open dissociation channel) may in fact give near-complete conversion to molecules.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Role of Molecular Dissociation in Feshbach-Interacting 85Rb Condensates

Recent Feshbach-resonance experiments with 85Rb Bose-Einstein condensates have led to a host of unexplained results: dramatic losses of condensate atoms for an across-resonance sweep of the magnetic field, a collapsing condensate with a burst of atoms emanating from the remnant condensate, increased losses for decreasing interaction times--until very short times are reached, and coherent oscillations between remnant and burst atoms. In particular, the amplitude of the remnant-burst oscillations, and the corresponding missing atoms, have prompted speculation as to the formation of a molecular condensate. Using a minimal mean-field model, we find that rogue dissociation, molecular dissociation to noncondensate atom pairs, is qualitatively implicated as the physical mechanism responsible for these observations, although very little molecular condensate is formed. Refining the model provides excellent quantitative agreement with the experimental remnant-burst oscillations, and the fraction of molecular condensate accounts almost entirely for the measured atom loss.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Landau-Zener Problem for Trilinear Hamiltonians

We consider a nonlinear version of the Landau-Zener problem, focusing on photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate as a specific example. Contrary to the exponential rate dependence obtained for the linear problem, a series expansion technique indicates that, when the resonance is crossed slowly, the probability for failure of adiabaticity is directly proportional to the rate at which the resonance is crossed.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Mean-Field Theory of Feshbach-Resonant Interactions in 85Rb Condensates

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2002

Feshbach-Stimulated Photoproduction of a Stable Molecular Condensate

Photoassociation and the Feshbach resonance are, in principle, feasible means for creating a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate from an already-quantum-degenerate gas of atoms; however, mean-field shifts and irreversible decay place practical constraints on the efficient delivery of stable molecules using either mechanism alone. We therefore propose Feshbach-stimulated Raman photoproduction, i.e., a combination of magnetic and optical methods, as a viable means to collectively convert degenerate atoms into a stable molecular condensate with near-unit efficiency.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2001

Coherent control of superfluidity in a Fermi gas of atoms

We theoretically examine photoassociation of a two-component Fermi degenerate gas, focusing on light-induced atom-atom interactions as a means to raise the critical temperature of the BCS transition to a superfluid state. As it stands, photoassociation-induced superfluidity is limited by spontaneous decay to experimentally inconvenient light intensities [Mackie et al., Opt. Express 8, 118 (2000)]. We therefore propose to use coherent control in photoassociation to a pair of molecular levels to cancel spontaneous emission, whereby the BCS transition should occur within reach of current experimental techniques.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2001

Rate limit for photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate

We simulate numerically the photodissociation of molecules into noncondensate atom pairs that accompanies photoassociation of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate into a molecular condensate. Such rogue photodissociation sets a limit on the achievable rate of photoassociation. Given the atom density ρand mass m, the limit is approximately 6\hbarρ^{2/3}/m. At low temperatures this is a more stringent restriction than the unitary limit of scattering theory.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Superposition of macroscopic numbers of atoms and molecules

We theoretically examine photoassociation of a non-ideal Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on evidence for a macroscopic superposition of atoms and molecules. This problem raises an interest because, rather than two states of a given object, an atom-molecule system is a seemingly impossible macroscopic superposition of different objects. Nevertheless, photoassociation enables coherent intraparticle conversion, and we thereby propose a viable scheme for creating a superposition of a macroscopic number of atoms with a macroscopic number of molecules.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Comment on "Bose-Einstein condensation with magnetic dipole-dipole forces"

The ground state solutions of a dilute Bose condensate with contact and magnetic dipole-dipole interactions are examined. By lowering the value of the scattering length, Goral et al. [cond-mat/9907308 and Phys. Rev. A {\bf 61}, 051601 (2000)] numerically predict a region of unstable solutions, accompanied by a neighborhood where the ground-state wave functions have internal structure. On the contrary, we find that the dipolar condensate has an intuitively-located stability region, and ground-state solutions near the instability threshold which are absent any unusual structure.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2000

Driving superfluidity with photoassociation

We theoretically examine photoassociation of a two-component Fermi degenerate gas. Our focus is on adjusting the atom-atom interaction, and thereby increasing the critical temperature of the BCS transition to the superfluid state. In order to avoid spontaneous decay of the molecules, the photoassociating light must be far-off resonance. Very high light intensities are therefore required for effective control of the BCS transition.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2000

Role of Bose enhancement in photoassociation

We discuss the role of Bose enhancement of the dipole matrix element in photoassociation, using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage as an example. In a nondegenerate gas the time scale for coherent optical transients tends to infinity in the thermodynamic limit, whereas Bose enhancement keeps this time scale finite in a condensate. Coherent transients are therefore absent in photoassociation of a thermal nondegenerate gas, but are feasible if the gas is a condensate.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2000

Theory of coherent photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate

We study coherent photoassociation, phenomena analogous to coherent optical transients in few-level systems, which may take place in photoassociation of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate but not in a nondegenerate gas. We develop a second-quantized Hamiltonian to describe photoassociation, and apply the Hamiltonian both in the momentum representation and in the position representation (field theory). Solution of the two-mode problem including only one mode each for the atomic and molecular condensates displays analogs of Rabi oscillations and rapid adiabatic passage. A classical version of the field theory for atoms and molecules is used to demonstrate that, in the presence of photoassociating light, a joint-atom molecule is unstable against growth of density fluctuations. Experimental complications, including spontaneous emission and unwanted "rogue" photodissociation from a photoassociated molecule are analyzed. A two-color Raman scheme is studied as a method to set up an effective two-mode scheme with reduced spontaneous emission losses. We discuss photoassociation rates and photoassociation Rabi frequencies for high-lying vibrational states in alkalis both on the basis of molecular-structure calculations, and by comparing with an experiment [Wynar et al., Science 287, 1016 (2000)].

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv1999

Bose-Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage in Photoassociation

We analyze coherent two-color photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) in free-bound-bound transitions from atoms to molecules. This problem is of particular interest since STIRAP is predicted to be necessarily absent in the nondegenerate case [Javanainen and Mackie, Phys. Rev. A 58, R789 (1998)]. However, Bose-stimulation enhances the free-bound dipole matrix element for an atomic condensate, and photoassociative STIRAP turns out to be a viable mechanism for converting an atomic condensate to a molecular condensate with near-unit efficiency.

physics.atom-ph↗