Ultracold Atoms in Optical Potentials and Novel Quantum Phases

Kirk W. Madison, C. F. Bharucha, Patrick R. Morrow +4 more

Artem M. Dudarev

In this dissertation, we discuss the manipulation of ultracold atoms with optical fields.We show how a one-way barrier for ground state atoms may be constructed.Its use for phase space compression is analyzed.Using several ideas from solid-state physics, we reveal a number of novel phenomena in quantum transport of ultracold atoms in two-dimensional optical lattices.These include Berry phase, self-rotation, spin-orbit coupling, and discrete solitons.Finally, we analyze in detail an approach to extract a small and deterministic number of atoms from a trapped Bose condensed gas by the introduction of an optical quantum dot.We show how small numbers of atoms in microtraps can be used for quantum state engineering.vii

Nathan E. Lundblad

Immanuel Bloch

Theodore A. Corcovilos, Jahnavee Mittal

Quasicrystals are nonperiodic structures having no translational symmetry but nonetheless possessing long-range order. The material properties of quasicrystals, particularly their low-temperature behavior, defy easy description. We present a compact optical setup for creating quasicrystal optical potentials with five-fold symmetry using interference of nearly co-propagating beams for use in ultracold atom quantum simulation experiments. We verify the optical design through numerical simulations and demonstrate a prototype system. We also discuss generating phason excitations and quantized transport in the quasicrystal through phase modulation of the beams.

Immanuel Bloch, P. Zoller