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Canadian Journal of Physics

Atomic state interference with fast hydrogen-like helium

Vitalii G Pal'chikov, Valery P. Yakovlev, Yu. L. Sokolov

Published Nov 1, 2004• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study the stationary interference of the 2S1/2 or 2P1/2 states due to the passage of metastable hydrogen-like helium ions 4He+ through static electric fields. The basic theory of atomic state interference is presented and experimental conditions allowing observation of the interference pattern with a beam of 4He+ ions are analyzed. We show that optimal conditions are within the reach of modern day experimental techniques. We present theoretical interference curves for two types of atomic interferometers and discuss in detail approaches for the precise measurement of the Lamb shift δn=2 = 2S1/2 – 2P1/2 in 4He+. PACS Nos.: 31.30.Jv, 32.70.Fw, 39.10.+j, 39.20.+q

DOI
10.1139/p04-054

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We study the stationary interference of the 2S1/2 or 2P1/2 states due to the passage of metastable hydrogen-like helium ions 4He+ through static electric fields. The basic theory of atomic state interference is presented and experimental conditions allowing observation of the interference pattern with a beam of 4He+ ions are analyzed. We show that optimal conditions are within the reach of modern day experimental techniques. We present theoretical interference curves for two types of atomic interferometers and discuss in detail approaches for the precise measurement of the Lamb shift δn=2 = 2S1/2 – 2P1/2 in 4He+. PACS Nos.: 31.30.Jv, 32.70.Fw, 39.10.+j, 39.20.+q
A principle is proposed for the observation of the stationary interference pattern of two phase-shifted components of the 2p (or 2s) state of the hydrogen atom (Yu. L. Sokolov, Sov. Phys. JETP 36, 243 (1973)); (Proc. 6-th Internat. Conf. on Atomic Phys., Riga, 1978, p. 207). An atomic interferometer, a device analogous in principle to a two-channel optical (such as Michelson's) interferometer, is used to measure the frequency of the (2s/sub 1/2/, F = 0)--(2p/sub 1/2/, F = 0) transition in the hydrogen atom, which is found to equal 909.9014 +- 0.0019 MHz. The corresponding Lamb shift is delta(H, n = 2) = 1057.8594 +- 0.0019 MHz.
We present experimental and theoretical investigations of the He spectral series 2S1−nQ1 (n=3÷9, Q=S,P,D,…,n−1) and 2P1−nQ1 (n=3÷9, Q=S,P,D,…,n−1) in electric fields up to 1635 kV/cm. Apart from the allowed transitions with |ΔL|=1, the transitions with |ΔL|=0,2,3,…—without field strictly forbidden—were observed. Several He patterns become similar to hydrogen patterns, which means they are nearly symmetric and show in higher fields nearly linear Stark shifts. The applied fields are high enough that patterns belonging to neighboring principal quantum numbers (for n>6) begin to overlap, which leads to interesting level-anticrossing effects. The experimental results are compared with numerical calculations, taking into account mixing between states of different principal quantum numbers and between singlet and triplet states. The agreement between experimental and theoretical results is quite good.
We report on interference studies in the internal and external degrees of freedom of metastable triplet helium atoms trapped near quantum degeneracy in a $$1.5 \,\upmu {\mathrm{m}}$$ optical dipole trap. Applying a single π/2\pi /2π/2 rf pulse we demonstrate that 50% of the atoms initially in the m=+1m=+1m=+1 state can be transferred to the magnetic field insensitive m=0m=0m=0 state. Two π/2\pi /2π/2 pulses with varying time delay allow a Ramsey-type measurement of the Zeeman shift for a high precision measurement of the 2 3S12\,^3S_123S1​ – 2 1S02\,^1S_021S0​ transition frequency. We show that this method also allows strong suppression of mean-field effects on the measurement of the Zeeman shift, which is necessary to reach the accuracy goal of 0.1 kHz on the absolute transition frequencies. Theoretically the feasibility of using metastable triplet helium atoms in the m=0m=0m=0 state for atom interferometry is studied demonstrating favorable conditions, compared to the alkali atoms that are used traditionally, for a non-QED determination of the fine structure constant.
Abstract We report on interference studies in the internal and external degrees of freedom of metastable triplet helium atoms trapped near quantum degeneracy in a $$ 1.5\kern0.166667em \upmu \mathrm{m} $$ 1.5 μ m optical dipole trap. Applying a single π/2 \pi /2 π/2 π / 2 rf pulse we demonstrate that 50% of the atoms initially in the m=+1 m=+1 m=+1 m = + 1 state can be transferred to the magnetic field insensitive m=0 m=0 m=0 m = 0 state. Two π/2 \pi /2 π/2 π / 2 pulses with varying time delay allow a Ramsey-type measurement of the Zeeman shift for a high precision measurement of the 23S1 {2}^3{S}_1 23S1​ 2 3 S 1 – 21S0 {2}^1{S}_0 21S0​ 2 1 S 0 transition frequency. We show that this method also allows strong suppression of mean-field effects on the measurement of the Zeeman shift, which is necessary to reach the accuracy goal of 0.1 kHz on the absolute transition frequencies. Theoretically the feasibility of using metastable triplet helium atoms in the m=0 m=0 m=0 m = 0 state for atom interferometry is studied demonstrating favorable conditions, compared to the alkali atoms that are used traditionally, for a non-QED determination of the fine structure constant.