Physics of cold atoms (neutral, ion)

David Alexander Anderson, Andrew T. Cadotte, Rachel Sapiro +1 more

Jesús Pérez‐Ríos

Arne Härter, Johannes Hecker Denschlag

In the last five years, a novel field of physics and chemistry has developed in which cold trapped ions and ultracold atomic gases are brought into contact with each other. Combining ion traps with traps for neutral atoms yields a variety of new possibilities for research and experiments. These range from studies of cold atom–ion collisions and atom–ion chemistry to applications in quantum information science and condensed matter related research. In this article we give a brief introduction into this new field and describe some of the perspectives for its future development.

Anders Kastberg

Roth Bernhard

One of the current themes in quantum physics is the creation of cold ( 1 K) molecules to study molecule-molecule, molecule-atom, and molecule-radiation interactions under these novel low-temperature conditions. This book highlights the field of cold trapped molecular ions. In particular, the development of a novel, universal cooling method for charged particles, sympathetic cooling using laser-cooled atoms, together with the experimental and computational techniques required are extensively reviewed. The book also reviews first spectacular applications of the cold ion ensembles produced: the study of the properties of cold non-neutral plasmas, the study of ion-neutral chemical reactions and of photodissociation processes, and high-resolution rotational overtone spectroscopy of cold hydrogen molecular ions with unprecedented spectral resolution. The large potential of this field of research and its possible impact to other fields of physics, chemistry, and biology are highlighted. The book summarizes the main lines of research in cold trapped molecular ion physics, thus, making it useful as an introduction for advanced students and experienced researchers.

Lucas Madeira, Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato