arXiv subjects

Peter Horak

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Horak.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Spatial diffusion in a periodic optical lattice: revisiting the Sisyphus effect

We numerically study the spatial diffusion of an atomic cloud experiencing Sisyphus cooling in a three-dimensional lin$\bot$lin optical lattice in a broad range of lattice parameters. In particular, we investigate the dependence on the size of the lattice sites which changes with the angle between the laser beams. We show that the steady-state temperature is largely independent of the lattice angle, but that the spatial diffusion changes significantly. It is shown that the numerical results fulfil the Einstein relations of Brownian motion in the jumping regime as well as in the oscillating regime. We finally derive an effective Brownian motion model from first principles which gives good agreement with the simulations.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2001

Giant light shift of atoms near optical microstructures

Atoms coupled to optical fields confined in one and two spatial dimensions in solid state microstructures can experience very large light shifts if the driving frequencies are close to a resonance of the microstructures and an atomic transition. Using the simple example of a quasi one-dimensional waveguide structure we can analytically calculate the atomic AC Stark shift and the modifications of the light field induced by the presence of the atom. A large enhancement of the effective interaction strength is found due to a non uniform mode density. Experimentally this should be visible by monitoring the scattered light field as well as by the modification of the atomic trajectories bouncing from the evanescent light.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2001

Scaling properties of cavity-enhanced atom cooling

We extend an earlier semiclassical model to describe the dissipative motion of N atoms coupled to M modes inside a coherently driven high-finesse cavity. The description includes momentum diffusion via spontaneous emission and cavity decay. Simple analytical formulas for the steady-state temperature and the cooling time for a single atom are derived and show surprisingly good agreement with direct stochastic simulations of the semiclassical equations for N atoms with properly scaled parameters. A thorough comparison with standard free-space Doppler cooling is performed and yields a lower temperature and a cooling time enhancement by a factor of M times the square of the ratio of the atom-field coupling constant to the cavity decay rate. Finally it is shown that laser cooling with negligible spontaneous emission should indeed be possible, especially for relatively light particles in a strongly coupled field configuration.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2000

Semiclassical theory of cavity-assisted atom cooling

We present a systematic semiclassical model for the simulation of the dynamics of a single two-level atom strongly coupled to a driven high-finesse optical cavity. From the Fokker-Planck equation of the combined atom-field Wigner function we derive stochastic differential equations for the atomic motion and the cavity field. The corresponding noise sources exhibit strong correlations between the atomic momentum fluctuations and the noise in the phase quadrature of the cavity field. The model provides an effective tool to investigate localisation effects as well as cooling and trapping times. In addition, we can continuously study the transition from a few photon quantum field to the classical limit of a large coherent field amplitude.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2000

Dissipative dynamics of Bose condensates in optical cavities

We study the zero temperature dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in driven high-quality optical cavities in the limit of large atom-field detuning. We calculate the stationary ground state and the spectrum of coupled atom and field mode excitations for standing wave cavities as well as for travelling wave cavities. Finite cavity response times lead to damping or controlled amplification of these excitations. Analytic solutions in the Lamb-Dicke expansion are in good agreement with numerical results for the full problem and show that oscillation frequencies and the corresponding damping rates are qualitatively different for the two cases.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv1999

Coherent dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in high-finesse optical cavities

We study the mutual interaction of a Bose-Einstein condensed gas with a single mode of a high-finesse optical cavity. We show how the cavity transmission reflects condensate properties and calculate the self-consistent intra-cavity light field and condensate evolution. Solving the coupled condensate-cavity equations we find that while falling through the cavity, the condensate is adiabatically transfered into the ground state of the periodic optical potential. This allows time dependent non-destructive measurements on Bose-Einstein condensates with intriguing prospects for subsequent controlled manipulation.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1999

Creation of coherence in Bose-Einstein condensates by atom detection

We investigate the creation of a relative phase between two Bose-Einstein condensates, initially in number states, by detection of atoms and show how the system approaches a coherent state. Two very distinct time scales are found: one for the creation of the interference is of the order of the detection time for a few single atoms and another, for the preparation of coherent states, of the order of the detection time for a significant fraction of the total number of atoms. Approximate analytic solutions are derived and compared with exact numerical results.

quant-ph↗

arXiv1998

Atom cooling and trapping by disorder

We demonstrate the possibility of three-dimensional cooling of neutral atoms by illuminating them with two counterpropagating laser beams of mutually orthogonal linear polarization, where one of the lasers is a speckle field, i.e. a highly disordered but stationary coherent light field. This configuration gives rise to atom cooling in the transverse plane via a Sisyphus cooling mechanism similar to the one known in standard two-dimensional optical lattices formed by several plane laser waves. However, striking differences occur in the spatial diffusion coefficients as well as in local properties of the trapped atoms.

physics.atom-ph↗