Collisions of Light with Atoms

Pimonpan Sompet, Alicia V. Carpentier, Y. H. Fung +2 more

We study the dynamics of atoms in optical traps when exposed to laser cooling light that induces light-assisted collisions. We experimentally prepare individual atom pairs and observe their evolution. Due to the simplicity of the system (just two atoms in a microtrap) we can directly simulate the pair's dynamics, thereby revealing detailed insight into it. We find that often only one of the collision partners gets expelled, similar to when using blue detuned light for inducing the collisions. This enhances schemes for using light-assisted collisions to prepare individual atoms and affects other applications as well.

Crispin W. Gardiner, P. Zoller

Crispin W. Gardiner

Dmitriy V. Kupriyanov, Igor M. Sokolov, A. V. Slavgorodskii

In this paper we consider the mechanism of coherent control of atomic collisions by two-photon excitation of colliding atoms with nonclassical light characterized by polarization entanglement. Such modification of the well-known optical-collision method is proposed as a possible spectroscopic application of nonclassical light for study of collisional dynamics. We show that quantum correlations allow one to have a deeper control of the internal dynamics of atomic collision than do the principles of classical statistics. Our qualitative discussion is supported by numerical calculations made for ${}^{1}{S}^{1}{P}^{1}S$ optical transition of Mg perturbed by collisions with rare-gas atom.

Kalle‐Antti Suominen

I describe the current theories for cold collisions between laser-cooled and trapped neutral atoms in light fields. The emphasis is on the dynamical nature of the problem, i.e. on the collisional loss of atoms from the trap or collisional heating of the atomic cloud. The recent work on optical shielding of collisions is also reviewed.