Nonlinear Dynamics of Atomic Wavepackets in Traps

W. R. Zhao, J. J. Mestayer, J. C. Lancaster +4 more

Andrea Trombettoni, Augusto Smerzi

We study the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate wavepacket trapped in an optical lattice. In the tight-binding limit, the system maps onto a discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Using a collective coordinate approximation, we investigate different dynamical regimes: diffusive (in which the boson wavepacket spreads out), self-trapped (with a self-induced pinning), breathing (where the centre of mass of the wavepacket moves with an oscillating width), and solitonic (in which the wavepacket shape is exactly preserved during the dynamics).

Martin C. Kandes, R. Carretero-González, M. W. J. Bromley

We simulate ultracold Sagnac atom interferometers using quantum-mechanical matter wavepackets, e.g. Bose-Einstein condensates, that counter-propagate within a rotating ring-trap. We find that the accumulation of the relative phase difference between wavepackets, i.e. the matter wave Sagnac effect, is manifested as discrete phase jumps. These plateaus result from three effects; that the atoms should be initially trapped at rest with respect to the rotating frame, that they counter-propagate with the same group velocities in the rotating frame, and that the imaging is performed in the rotating frame. We show that the plateaus persist in the presence of nonlinear atom-atom interactions, and in atoms undergoing various rotations, and thus will occur during matter wavepacket experiments. We also introduce the simplest possible Sagnac atom interferometry scheme which relies on wavepacket dispersion around a ring-trap.

J. Broeckhove, Luc Lathouwers, Piet Van Leuven

Fausto Martelli

Pramod Charles John

Ultrafast laser pump-probe techniques have been used to study the rovibrational dynamics of the B, C, and D states of the Cesium dimer and to study atomic wavepackets and nonlinear effects in Rubidium and Potassium. Two color, pump-probe techniques have been used to probe the time evolution of wavepackets in the B, C, and D rovibrational levels of Cs$\sb2$. The temporal history of the wavepacket is inferred from the time and energy-integrated photoelectron signal produced when the excited state is photoionized by a time-delayed probe pulse. Oscillatory motion is observed in the photoionization signals, corresponding to the vibrational energy differences of the state begin studied. The period of oscillation ranges between 2.2 and 1.1 ps depending on the state. Quantum mechanical simulations of the wavepacket motion show excellent agreement with the experimental data. Experiments have been carried out in which atomic wavepackets interact with a four-wave mixing process in Rb and K to produce spatially and temporally coherent pulses of UV radiation. Wave packets are produced by coherently exciting an ensemble of states using the broad bandwidth of a femtosecond pulse. Oscillations corresponding to the energy differences between the levels in the wavepacket are superimposed on the UV signal when two identical pump and delayed probe pulses are introduced into the alkali vapor. Analyses of the UV emission line profiles show excellent agreement with the four-wave mixing process.