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Decoherence in Excited Atoms by Low-Energy Scattering

Quiñones, DA, Varcoe, BTH

Published Dec 9, 2016• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We describe a new mechanism of decoherence in excited atoms that arise from particle scattering by the atomic nucleus. It is based on the idea that the scattering will produce a sudden displacement of the nucleus which will be perceived by the electron of the atom as an instant shift in the electrostatic potential. This will leave the atom’s wavefunction partially projected into lower-energy states which will lead to the decoherence of the atomic state. The decoherence is calculated to increase with the excitation of the atom, making observations of the effect easier in Rydberg atoms. We estimate the order of the decoherence for photons and massive particles scattering, analyzing several commonly presented scenarios. By maximizing the order of the effect it can be used for detection of weakly-interacting particles, like those which may be the constituents of Dark Matter, through applying very precise atomic spectroscopy.

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Decoherence in Excited Atoms by Low-Energy Scattering

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arXiv:1706.01287•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Dec 1, 2017•1 citation
We describe a new mechanism of decoherence in excited atoms that arise from particle scattering by the atomic nucleus. It is based on the idea that the scattering will produce a sudden displacement of the nucleus which will be perceived by the electron of the atom as an instant shift in the electrostatic potential. This will leave the atom’s wavefunction partially projected into lower-energy states which will lead to the decoherence of the atomic state. The decoherence is calculated to increase with the excitation of the atom, making observations of the effect easier in Rydberg atoms. We estimate the order of the decoherence for photons and massive particles scattering, analyzing several commonly presented scenarios. By maximizing the order of the effect it can be used for detection of weakly-interacting particles, like those which may be the constituents of Dark Matter, through applying very precise atomic spectroscopy.
We describe a new mechanism of decoherence in excited atoms as a result of thermal particles scattering by the atomic nucleus. It is based on the idea that a single scattering will produce a sudden displacement of the nucleus, which will be perceived by the electron in the atom as an instant shift in the electrostatic potential. This will leave the atom’s wave-function partially projected into lower-energy states, which will lead to decoherence of the atomic state. The decoherence is calculated to increase with the excitation of the atom, making observation of the effect easier in Rydberg atoms. We estimate the order of the decoherence for photons and massive particles scattering, analyzing several commonly presented scenarios. Our scheme can be applied to the detection of weakly-interacting particles, like those which may be the constituents of Dark Matter, the interaction of which was calculated to have a more prominent effect that the background radiation.
We present a new model of atomic decoherence by space-time perturbations. We propose that decoherence will arise as a result of two possible effects that gravitational fluctuations will have on the atom. One is that the nucleus will be displaced relative to the valence electron, which will be perceived as a sudden change in the electric potential. This will result in the wave function of the atom being partially projected into lower energy levels. The other is that the strain in space will change the local electric field as felt by the electron. This interaction will either induce a change in the angular momentum of the atom or a small shift in the transition of the energy levels, presenting two different experimental approaches for the detection of the effect. We calculate how the decoherence is related to the internal degrees of freedom of the atoms, obtaining that the effect will be more prominent for atoms initially in a highly excited state (Rydberg atoms). By applying the nuclear displacement model for the scatter- ing of neutral particles, we suggest that it could be potentially useful for the detection of weakly-interacting particles, like possible candi- dates of Dark Matter. The overall effect of gravitational waves for the strained-space model was calculated to be several orders of magnitude higher than for the nuclear displacement model, allowing for detection in different ranges of frequencies. We analyze how different quantum states are affected according to the proposed model, calculating that the information from the measurement of correlated atoms will be significantly higher. The optimal quantum state that minimizes the uncertainty of the measurement is described for an arbitrary number of atoms, giving a relation that follows closely the Heisenberg limit.
A new heuristic model of interaction of an atomic system with a gravitational wave (GW) is proposed. In it, the GW alters the local electromagnetic field of the atomic nucleus, as perceived by the electron, changing the state of the system. The spectral decomposition of the wave function is calculated, from which the energy is obtained. The results suggest a shift in the difference of the atomic energy levels, which will induce a small detuning to a resonant transition. The detuning increases with the quantum numbers of the levels, making the effect more prominent for Rydberg states. We performed calculations on the Rabi oscillations of atomic transitions, estimating how they would vary as a result of the proposed effect.
A modified uncertainty principle coupling the intervals of energy and time can lead to the shortest distance attained in course of the excitation process, as well as the shortest possible time interval for that process. These lower bounds are much similar to the interval limits deduced on both the experimental and theoretical footing in the era when the Heisenberg uncertainty principle has been developed. In effect of the bounds existence, a maximal nuclear charge Ze acceptable for the Bohr atomic ion could be calculated. In the next step the velocity of electron transitions between the Bohr orbits is found to be close to the speed of light. This result provides us with the energy spectrum of transitions similar to that obtained in the Bohr’s model. A momentary force acting on the electrons in course of their transitions is estimated to be by many orders larger than a steady electrostatic force existent between the atomic electron and the nucleus.
The conventional notion of elastic, coherent atom-surface scattering originates from the scattering particles acting as a quantum-mechanical matter wave, which coherently interfere to produce distinct Bragg peaks which persist at finite temperature. If we introduce inelastic scattering to this scenario, the result is that the surface particles become displaced by the scattering atoms, resulting in emission or absorption of phonons that shift the final energy and momentum of the scatterer. As the lowest-lying phonons are gapless excitations, the ability to measure these phonons is very difficult and this difficulty is exacerbated by the roughly 1-eV resolution found in high-energy helium scattering experiments. Even though the surface has in effect measured the presence of the scatterer which decoheres the particle, we retain the diffraction spots which are referred to as coherent scattering. How do we reconcile these disparate viewpoints? We propose an experiment to more precisely examine the question of coherence in atom-surface scattering. We begin with an initially coherent superposition of helium particles with equal probabilities of interacting with the surface or not interacting with the surface. The beams are directed so that after the scattering event, the atoms are recombined so that we can observe the resulting interference pattern. The degree to which phonons are excited in the lattice by the scattering process dictates the fringe contrast of the interference pattern of the resulting beams. We use semiclassical techniques to simulate and test the viability of this experiment and show that for a wide range of conditions, despite the massive change in the momentum perpendicular to the surface, we can still expect to have coherent (in the superposition sense) scattering.
Abstract A new heuristic model of interaction of an atomic system with a gravitational wave (GW) is proposed. In it, the GW alters the local electromagnetic field of the atomic nucleus, as perceived by the electron, changing the state of the system. The spectral decomposition of the wave function is calculated, from which the energy is obtained. The results suggest a shift in the difference of the atomic energy levels, which will induce a small detuning to a resonant transition. The detuning increases with the quantum numbers of the levels, making the effect more prominent for Rydberg states. We performed calculations on the Rabi oscillations of atomic transitions, estimating how they would vary as a result of the proposed effect.