Atoms trapped by a spin-dependent optical lattice potential: Realization of a ground-state quantum rotor

Abstract

In a cold atom gas subject to a 2D spin-dependent optical lattice potential with hexagonal symmetry, trapped atoms execute circular motion around the potential minima. Such atoms are elementary quantum rotors. The theory of such quantum rotors is developed. Wave functions, energies, and degeneracies are determined for both bosonic and fermionic atoms, and magnetic dipole transitions between quantum rotor states are elucidated. Quantum rotors in optical lattices with precisely one atom per unit cell can be used as extremely high sensitivity rotation sensors, accelerometers, and magnetometers.

Quantum Rotor Atoms in Light Beams with Orbital Angular Momentum: Highly Accurate Rotation Sensor

“…This is better than the accuracy δΩ = 6.4 × 10 −10 s −1 reported in Ref. [1]. Moreover, the rotation sensor accuracy is much better than δΩ NIST = 3×10 −8 s −1 reported in Ref.…”

“…We show that quantum rotor (QR) atoms (atoms whose motion is constrained to a circular ring) [1] can be formed in light beams having orbital angular momentum and that they can be used as an extremely high accuracy rotation sensor. QR atoms are trapped in a red-detuned linearly polarized retro-reflected Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam [2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…A LG beam propagating along the z-axis with orbital angular momentum l and polarization e α can be written in terms of a slowly varying envelope u l,p (r, φ, z) of the electric field as E α,l,p (r, t) = u l,p (r, φ, z) e i(kz−kz 0 −ωt) e α + c.c., (1) with field amplitude mode LG l p (r) ≡ u l,p (r) [2][3][4],…”

“…Details of the Raman scattering of the pump and Stokes light, the Rabi oscillations with Raman pulses used to measure the energy differences of the QR states are presented Ref. [1] and also in the SM [14].…”

Multichannel decay law

“…Refs. [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65], opens up interesting developments. Alternatively, the experiment described in Ref.…”