arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. Zoller.
We propose and analyze a scheme to create dark solitons and vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates. This is achieved starting from a condensate in the internal state $|a>$ and transferring the atoms to the internal state $|b>$ via a Raman transition induced by laser light. By scanning adiabatically the Raman detuning, dark solitons and vortices are created.
We propose a scheme that allows to laser cool trapped atoms to the ground state of a one-dimensional confining potential. The scheme is based on the creation of a dark state by designing the laser profile, so that the hottest atoms are coherently pumped to another internal level, and then repumped back. The scheme works beyond the Lamb-Dicke limit. We present results of a full quantum treatment for a one-dimensional model.
Using a cavity QED setup we show how to implement a particular joint measurement on two atoms in a fault tolerant way. Based on this scheme, we illustrate how to realize quantum communication over a noisy channel when local operations are subject to errors. We also present a scheme to perform and purify a universal two-bit gate.
The formation process of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a trap is described using a master equation based on quantum kinetic theory, which can be well approximated by a description using only the condensate mode in interaction with a thermalized bath of noncondensate atoms. A rate equation of the form n = 2W(n)[(1-exp((mu_n - mu)/kT))n + 1] is derived, in which the difference between the condensate chemical potential mu_n and the bath chemical potential mu gives the essential behavior. Solutions of this equation, in conjunction with the theoretical description of the process of evaporative cooling, give a characteristic latency period for condensate formation and appear to be consistent with the observed behavior of both rubidium and sodium condensate formation.
We propose a scheme to create a macroscopic ``Schödinger cat'' state formed by two interacting Bose condensates. In analogy with quantum optics, where the control and engineering of quantum states can be maintained to a large extend, we consider the present scheme to be an example of quantum atom optics at work.
The interaction of an atomic two-level system and a squeezed vacuum leads to interesting novel effects in atomic dynamics, including line narrowing in resonance fluorescence and absorption spectra, and a suppressed (enhanced) decay of the in-phase and out-of phase component of the atomic polarization. On the experimental side these predictions have so far eluded observation, essentially due to the difficulty of embedding atoms in a 4 pi squeezed vacuum. In this paper we show how to ``engineer'' a squeezed-bath-type interaction for an effective two-level system. In the simplest example, our two-level atom is represented by the two ground levels of an atom with angular momentum J=1/2 -> J=1/2 transition (a four level system) which is driven by (weak) laser fields and coupled to the vacuum reservoir of radiation modes. Interference between the spontaneous emission channels in optical pumping leads to a squeezed bath type coupling, and thus to symmetry breaking of decay on the Bloch sphere. With this system it should be possible to observe the effects predicted in the context of squeezed bath - atom interactions. The laser parameters allow one to choose properties of the squeezed bath interaction, such as the (effective) photon number expectation number N and the squeezing phase phi. We present results of a detailed analytical and numerical study.
We propose a laser cooling scheme that allows to cool a single atom confined in a harmonic potential to the trap ground state $|0>$. The scheme assumes strong confinement, where the oscillation frequency in the trap is larger than the effective spontaneous decay width, but is not restricted to the Lamb-Dicke limit, i.e. the size of the trap ground state can be larger than the optical wavelength. This cooling scheme may be useful in the context of quantum computations with ions and Bose-Einstein condensation.
The dynamics of a two-component dilute Bose gas of atoms at zero temperature is described in the mean field approximation by a two-component Gross-Pitaevskii Equation. We solve this equation assuming a Gaussian shape for the wavefunction, where the free parameters of the trial wavefunction are determined using a moment method. We derive equilibrium states and the phase diagrams for the stability for positive and negative s-wave scattering lengths, and obtain the low energy excitation frequencies corresponding to the collective motion of the two Bose condensates.
We consider transmission of an (unknown) quantum state between two distant atoms via photons. Based on a quantum-optical realistic model, we define a noisy quantum channel which includes systematic errors as well as errors due to coupling to the environment. We present a protocol that allows one to accomplish ideal transmission by repeating the transfer operation as many times as needed.
We present results of simulations of a em quantum Boltzmann master equation (QBME) describing the kinetics of a dilute Bose gas confined in a trapping potential in the regime of Bose condensation. The QBME is the simplest version of a quantum kinetic master equations derived in previous work. We consider two cases of trapping potentials: a 3D square well potential with periodic boundary conditions, and an isotropic harmonic oscillator. We discuss the stationary solutions and relaxation to equilibrium. In particular, we calculate particle distribution functions, fluctuations in the occupation numbers, the time between collisions, and the mean occupation numbers of the one-particle states in the regime of onset of Bose condensation.
A Quantum Kinetic Master Equation (QKME) for bosonic atoms is formulated. It is a quantum stochastic equation for the kinetics of a dilute quantum Bose gas, and describes the behavior and formation of Bose condensation. The key assumption in deriving the QKME is a Markov approximation for the atomic collision terms. In the present paper the basic structure of the theory is developed, and approximations are stated and justified to delineate the region of validity of the theory. Limiting cases of the QKME include the Quantum Boltzmann master equation and the Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation, as well as an equation analogous to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
We create a gray optical lattice structure using a blue detuned laser field coupling an atomic ground state of angular momentum J simultaneously to two excited states with angular momenta J and J-1. The atoms are cooled and trapped at locations of purely circular polarization. The cooling process efficiently accumulates almost half of the atomic population in the lowest energy band which is only weakly coupled to the light field. Very low kinetic temperatures are obtained by adiabatically reducing the optical potential. The dynamics of this process is analysed using a full quantum Monte Carlo simulation. The calculations explicitly show the mapping of the band populations on the corresponding momentum intervals of the free atom. In an experiment with subrecoil momentum resolution we measure the band populations and find excellent absolut agreement with the theoretical calculations.
We propose a scheme to utilize photons for ideal quantum transmission between atoms located at spatially-separated nodes of a quantum network. The transmission protocol employs special laser pulses which excite an atom inside an optical cavity at the sending node so that its state is mapped into a time-symmetric photon wavepacket that will enter a cavity at the receiving node and be absorbed by an atom there with unit probability. Implementation of our scheme would enable reliable transfer or sharing of entanglement among spatially distant atoms.
We show how to fully characterize a quantum process in an open quantum system. We particularize the procedure to the case of a universal two-qubit gate in a quantum computer. We illustrate the method with a numerical simulation of a quantum gate in the ion trap quantum computer.
A method to determine the state of a single quantized cavity mode is proposed. By adiabatic passage, the quantum state of the field is transfered completely onto an internal Zeeman sub-manifold of an atom. Utilizing a method of Newton and Young, we can determine this angular momentum state uniquely, by a finite number of magnetic dipole measurements with Stern-Gerlach analyzers. An example illustrates the influence of dissipation.
We describe a method to perform a single quantum measurement of an arbitrary observable of a single ion moving in a harmonic potential. We illustrate the measurement procedure with explicit examples, namely the position and phase observables.
We investigate the prospects of atomic interference using samples of Bose condensed atoms. First we show the ability of two independent Bose condensates to create an interference pattern, even if both condensates are described by Fock states. Thus, the existence of an experimental signature for a broken gauge symmetry, seen in a single run of the experiment, is not necessarily reflected by a broken symmetry on the level of the quantum mechanical state vector. Based on these results, we simulate numerically a recent experiment with two independent Bose condensates, performed by the group of W.Ketterle (MIT). The calculated expansion of the condensates is in good agreement with the experimental data. In addition the existence of interference fringes is predicted based on the nonlinear Schroedinger equation. Finally we study theoretically the influence of finite temperatures on the visibility of the interference in a double pinhole experiment.
We use continuous measurement theory to describe the evolution of two Bose condensates in an interference experiment. It is shown how the system evolves in a single run of the experiment into a state with a fixed relative phase, while the total gauge symmetry remains unbroken. Thus, an interference pattern is exhibited without violating atom number conservation.