Manipulation of molecules with electromagnetic fields

Abstract

I. INTRODUCTIONThe past few decades have witnessed remarkable developments of laser techniques setting the stage for new areas of research in molecular physics. It is now possible to interrogate molecules in the ultrafast and ultracold regimes of molecular dynamics and the measurements of molecular structure and dynamics can be made with unprecedented precision. Molecules are inherently complex quantum-mechanical systems. The complexity of molecular structure, if harnessed, can be exploited for yet another step forward in science, potentially leading to technology for quantum computing, quantum simulation, precise field sensors, and new lasers.The goal of the present article is to review the major developments that have led to the current understanding of molecule -field interactions and experimental methods for manipulating molecules with electromagnetic fields. Molecule -field interactions are at the core of several, seemingly distinct, areas of molecular physics. This is reflected in the organization of this article, which includes sections on Field control of molecular beams, External field traps for cold molecules, Control of molecular orientation and molecular alignment, Manipulation of molecules by nonconservative forces, Ultracold molecules and ultracold chemistry, Controlled many-body phenomena, Entanglement of molecules and dipole arrays, and Stability of molecular systems in high-frequency super-intense laser fields. By combining these topics in the same review, we would like to emphasize that all this work is based on the same basic Hamiltonian.This review is also intended to serve as an introduction to the excellent collection of articles appearing in this same-titled volume of Molecular Physics [1-27]. These original contributions demonstrate the latest developments exploiting control of molecules with electromagnetic fields. The reader will be treated to a colourful selection of articles on topics as diverse as Chemistry in laser fields, Quantum dynamics in helium droplets, Effects of microwave and laser fields on molecular motion, Rydberg molecules, Molecular structure in external fields, Quantum simulation with ultracold molecules, and Controlled molecular interactions, written by many of the leading protagonists of these fields.This article is concerned chiefly with the effects of electromagnetic fields on low-energy rotational, fine-structure and translational degrees of freedom. There are several important research areas that are left outside the scope of this paper, most notably the large body of work on the interaction of molecules with attosecond laser pulses and high harmonic generation [28], coherent control of molecular dynamics [29] and optimal control of molecular processes [30]. We limit the discussion of resonant interaction of light with molecules to laser cooling strategies. We do not survey spectroscopy or transfer of population between molecular states. Even with these restrictions, this is a vast area to review, as is apparent from the number of references. We did our best to in...

Correlations and enlarged superconducting phase of t−J⊥ chains of ultracold molecules on optical lattices

“…For V = 0 this gives J (2) c /t ≈ 9.7 for α = 0 and J (2) c /t = 8 for the usual SU(2) case with α = 1. For V = −J ⊥ /4 as in the standard t-J model, this yields J (2) c /t ≈ 4.4 for the α = 0 case and J (2) c /t = 4 in the SU (2) case.…”

“…[60] show that for both t-J and t-J ⊥ Hamiltonians, at low fillings a superconducting phase forms in a window of values of J or J ⊥ for a broad range of densities n. Namely, upon increasing J or J ⊥ , the system is driven from a gapless Luttinger liquid into the superconducting spin-gap phase at a critical value J (1) c . Then there is a transition from the superconducting phase to a phase-separated region at J (2) c . The density-matrix renormalization group shows several interesting trends for the coupling constants J c .…”

“…At the interface between atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed-matter physics, systems of ultracold polar molecules [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] have caused a great deal of excitement and opened a path for the quantum simulation [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] of quantum magnetism [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and superconductivity [39,40] on optical lattices [41,42]. Intrinsic to these systems are the long-range dipolar-type interactions, which, in contrast to the long-range Coulomb interaction in condensed-matter systems, are not affected by screening.…”

Slowing Continuous Molecular Beams in a Rotating Spiral

“…We observe very clearly a shift of the peak of the output velocity distribution and a manifold increase of the measured flux with increasing the centrifuge rotation speed. Taking into account all the factors determining the detection efficiency, we measure a total output flux of molecules with kinetic energies below 1 K (typical trap depth of electric traps [18]) [highlighted in Fig. 3(a)] of the order of several 10 9 s À1 for a centrifuge rotation speed of 43 Hz.…”

Controllable quantum spin glasses with magnetic impurities embedded in quantum solids

“…Powerful microwave dressing techniques borrowed from the polar-molecule literature [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73] can be used to access a great variety of Hamiltonians beyond the one given in Eq. (6) …”