The standing matter waves and Bohm’s quantum potential

Roland Abfalterer, Stefan Bernet, Claudia Keller +3 more

Atoms interacting with standing light waves are a model system for the propagation of waves in static and time varying periodic media. We present here experiments studying the coherent motion of atomic deBroglie waves in periodic potentials made from on and off resonant light. We observe anomalous transmission of atoms through resonant standing light waves and experimentally confirm that atoms fulfilling the Bragg condition form a standing matter wave pattern. We furthermore demonstrate how Bragg diffraction of atomic matter waves at a time-modulated thick standing light wave can be used to coherently shift the deBroglie frequency of the diffracted atoms. Our frequency shifter for atomic matter waves is similar to an acousto-optic frequency shifter for photons.

Ryoichi Saito, Takashi Mukaiyama

Interferometers, which are built using spatially propagating light or matter waves, are commonly used to measure physical quantities. These measurements are made possible by exploiting the interference between waves traveling along different paths. This study introduces a novel approach to sensing of the Aharonov-Bohm phase, an ion matter-wave interferometer operating within a two-dimensional rotational trajectory in a trap potential. The ion orbitals in the nearly circular potential change rotation direction with time. This reversal of rotation direction results in a corresponding change in the interference phase. Our study is the first attempt to utilize propagating matter waves of an ion in constructing a two-dimensional interferometer for the measurement of physical quantities. Given that the scale factor of the interferometer to the cyclotron motion and the rotation of the system is common, the sensitivity to the Aharonov-Bohm phase in this study corresponds to a rotation sensitivity of approximately 300 rad/s. Besides advancing interferometry, our work also lays the foundation for future research into the use of ion matter waves in gyroscopic applications.

A. G. Chirkov, A. N. Ageev

The case where the magnetic flux inside an electronic loop varies with time is considered for an experiment in which the Aharonov-Bohm effect is observed. The electromagnetic field and potentials of a solenoid with an alternating current are studied. It is shown that the vector potential outside the solenoid contains a term corresponding to a zero electromagnetic field at the same point of space. This part of the potential (global potential) describes standing waves whose properties differ from those of ordinary electromagnetic waves and which can be conventionally called information potential waves. A method of detecting information waves is proposed involving an effect similar to the Aharonov-Bohm effect (quasi-Aharonov-Bohm effect). Unlike ordinary electromagnetic waves, these information waves are not involved in any energy interactions but they can carry information.

Chris Philippidis, David Böhm, R.D. Kaye