Physics of Ultra-cold and Rydberg Plasmas
José Tito Mendonça, John Gideon Hartnett, Paul C Abbott
Here we discuss collective processes and plasma effects that can be found in ultra‐cold matter. First, we consider the ultra‐cold atomic gas that can be produced in a magneto‐optical trap. Due to the existence of long‐range repulsive forces, new collective oscillation can take place, resembling sound waves but with a cut‐off frequency. We also examine new phenomena in Rydberg plasmas, resulting from laser ionization of the ultra‐cold gas. In these very low temperature plasmas a large amount of excited Rydberg states can exist, leading to a new dispersion relation for the electromagnetic waves. Enhanced magnetic field generation will also be considered. Finally, we discuss the collective properties of Bose Einstein condensates, showing a strong analogy with collective plasma processes. Two related examples are given as an illustration: Bogoliubov oscillations in the condensate, and two‐stream instabilities of counter‐streaming BECs.
AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 2010•0 citations