Search Results (83 total)

We present a general scheme to determine the loss-free adiabatic eigensolutions (dark-state polaritons) of the interaction of multiple probe laser beams with a coherently driven atomic ensemble under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. To this end we generalize the Morris-Shore transformation to linearized Heisenberg-Langevin equations describing the coupled light-matter system in the weak excitation limit. For the simple lambda-type coupling scheme the generalized Morris-Shore transformation reproduces the dark-state polariton solutions of slow light. Here we treat a closed-loop dual-V scheme wherein two counterpropagating control fields generate a quasistationary pattern of two counterpropagating probe fields—so-called stationary light. We show that contrary to previous predictions, there exists a single unique dark-state polariton; it obeys a simple propagation equation.

We discuss a method to achieve decoherence resistant entanglement generation in strongly interacting ensembles of two-level spin systems. Our method uses designed gapped Hamiltonians to create a protected manifold of multidegenerate levels which is robust against local decoherence processes. We apply the protected evolution to achieve decoherence resistant generation of many-particle Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states in two specific physical systems, trapped ions and neutral atoms in optical lattices, and discuss how to engineer the desired many-body protected manifold with them. We analyze the fidelity of GHZ generation and show our method can significantly increase the sensitivity in frequency spectroscopy.

We show that pairs of atoms optically excited to the Rydberg states can strongly interact with each other via effective long-range dipole-dipole or van der Waals interactions mediated by their nonresonant coupling to a common microwave field mode of a superconducting coplanar waveguide cavity. These cavity mediated interactions can be employed to generate single photons and to realize in a scalable configuration a universal phase gate between pairs of single photon pulses propagating or stored in atomic ensembles in the regime of electromagnetically induced transparency.

We analyze the phase diagram of ultracold bosons in a one-dimensional superlattice potential with disorder, using the time-evolving block decimation algorithm for infinite-sized systems. For degenerate potential energies within the unit cell of the superlattice, loophole-shaped insulating phases with noninteger filling emerge with a particle-hole gap proportional to the boson hopping. Addition of a small amount of disorder destroys this gap. For not too large disorder, the loophole Mott regions detach from the axis of vanishing hopping, giving rise to insulating islands. Thus the system shows a transition from a compressible Bose glass to a Mott-insulating phase with increasing hopping amplitude. We present a straightforward effective model for the dynamics within a unit cell which provides a simple explanation for the emergence of Mott-insulating islands. In particular, it gives rather accurate predictions for the inner critical point of the Bose glass to Mott insulator transition.

We study the phase diagram of the zero-temperature, one-dimensional Bose-Fermi-Hubbard model for fixed fermion density in the limit of small fermionic hopping. This model can be regarded as an instance of a disordered Bose-Hubbard model with dichotomic values of the stochastic variables. Phase boundaries between compressible, incompressible (Mott-insulating), and partially compressible phases are derived analytically within a generalized strong-coupling expansion and numerically using density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods. We show that first-order correlations in the partially compressible phases decay exponentially, indicating a glass-type behavior. Fluctuations within the respective incompressible phases are determined using perturbation theory and are compared to DMRG results.

We give a microscopic derivation of the Clausius-Mossotti relations for a homogeneous and isotropic magnetodielectric medium consisting of radiatively broadened atomic oscillators. To this end the diagram series of electromagnetic propagators is calculated exactly for an infinite bicubic lattice of dielectric and magnetic dipoles for a small lattice constant compared to the resonance wavelength λ. Modifications of transition frequencies and linewidth of the elementary oscillators are taken into account in a self-consistent way by a proper incorporation of the singular self-interaction terms. We show that in radiatively broadened media sufficiently close to the free-space resonance the real part of the index of refraction approaches the value −2 in the limit of ρλ³⪢1, where ρ is the number density of scatterers. Since at the same time the imaginary part vanishes as 1∕ρ, local field effects can have important consequences for realizing low-loss negative index materials.

Repulsively interacting particles in a periodic potential can form bound composite objects, whose dissociation is suppressed by a band gap. Nearly pure samples of such repulsively bound pairs of cold atoms—“dimers”—have recently been prepared by Winkler [Nature (London) 441, 853 (2006)]. We here derive an effective Hamiltonian for a lattice loaded with dimers only and discuss its implications for the many-body dynamics of the system. We find that the dimer-dimer interaction includes strong on-site repulsion and nearest-neighbor attraction which always dominates over the dimer kinetic energy at low temperatures. The dimers then form incompressible, minimal-surface “droplets” of a quantum lattice liquid. For low lattice filling, the effective Hamiltonian can be mapped onto the spin-1∕2 XXZ model with fixed total magnetization which exhibits a first-order phase transition from the droplet to a gas phase. This opens the door to studying first-order phase transitions using highly controllable ultracold atoms.

We show that negative refraction with minimal absorption can be obtained by means of quantum interference effects similar to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Coupling a magnetic dipole transition coherently with an electric dipole transition leads to electromagnetically induced chirality, which can provide negative refraction without requiring negative permeability and also suppress absorption. This technique allows negative refraction in the optical regime at densities where the magnetic susceptibility is still small and with refraction/absorption ratios that are orders of magnitude larger than those achievable previously. Furthermore, the refractive index can be fine-tuned, which is essential for practical realization of subdiffraction-limit imaging. As with EIT, electromagnetically induced chirality should be applicable to a wide range of systems.

We study the ground-state entanglement of one-dimensional harmonic chains that are coupled to each other by a collective interaction as realized, e.g., in an anisotropic ion crystal. Due to the collective type of coupling, where each chain interacts with every other one in the same way, the total system shows critical behavior in the direction orthogonal to the chains, while the isolated harmonic chains can be gapped and noncritical. We derive lower and most importantly upper bounds for the entanglement, quantified by the von Neumann entropy, between a compact block of oscillators and its environment. For sufficiently large size of the subsystems, the bounds coincide and show that the area law for entanglement is violated by a logarithmic correction.

We present a universal physical picture for describing storage and retrieval of photon wave packets in a Λ-type atomic medium. This physical picture encompasses a variety of different approaches to pulse storage ranging from adiabatic reduction of the photon group velocity and pulse-propagation control via off-resonant Raman fields to photon-echo-based techniques. Furthermore, we derive an optimal control strategy for storage and retrieval of a photon wave packet of any given shape. All these approaches, when optimized, yield identical maximum efficiencies, which only depend on the optical depth of the medium.

A Comment on the Letter by Quentin Thommen and Paul Mandel, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 053601 (2006)].

We describe the use of a special interaction symmetry for the robust generation of the totally symmetric superposition state or entangled state of an N-state system. The required symmetry of the Hamiltonian is that of a circulant matrix. Such a matrix has the important property that its eigenstates are independent of the matrix elements as long as the circulant symmetry is maintained. One of the eigenvectors is the target superposition. By inducing a slow evolution of the Hamiltonian into the circulant form, adiabatic following will generate the desired superposition out of a convenient initial state such as a product state. The creation process is robust: it is insensitive to details of the interaction as long as the final Hamiltonian has the required symmetry. We illustrate the procedure with a simple example: a ring of quantum wells that permit interwell tunneling, into which a single atom is placed. By carrying out adiabatic evolution the state vector approaches an equal distribution of probability amplitudes in each well.

We analyze the ground-state and low-temperature properties of a one-dimensional Bose gas in a harmonic trapping potential using the numerical density-matrix renormalization group. Calculations cover the whole range from the Bogoliubov limit of weak interactions to the Tonks-Girardeau limit. Local quantities such as density and local three-body correlations are calculated and shown to agree very well with analytic predictions within a local-density approximation. The transition between temperature-dominated to quantum-dominated correlation is determined. It is shown that despite the presence of the harmonic trapping potential, first-order correlations display, over a large range, the algebraic decay of a harmonic fluid with a Luttinger parameter determined by the density at the trap center.

The light-matter-wave Sagnac interferometer based on ultraslow light proposed recently in Zimmer and Fleischhauer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 253201 (2004), is analyzed in detail. In particular the effect of confining potentials is examined and it is shown that the ultraslow light attains a rotational phase shift equivalent to that of a matter wave, if and only if the coherence transfer from light to atoms associated with slow light is associated with a momentum transfer and if an ultracold gas in a ring trap is used. The quantum sensitivity limit of the Sagnac interferometer is determined and the minimum detectable rotation rate calculated. It is shown that the slow-light interferometer allows for a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio as possible in current matter-wave gyroscopes.

We theoretically study the dynamics of an adiabatic sweep through a Feshbach resonance, thereby converting a degenerate quantum gas of fermionic atoms into a degenerate quantum gas of bosonic dimers. Our analysis relies on a zero temperature mean-field theory which accurately accounts for initial molecular quantum fluctuations, triggering the association process. The structure of the resulting semiclassical phase space is investigated, highlighting the dynamical instability of the system towards association, for sufficiently small detuning from resonance. It is shown that this instability significantly modifies the finite-rate efficiency of the sweep, transforming the single-pair exponential Landau-Zener behavior of the remnant fraction of atoms Γ on sweep rate α, into a power-law dependence as the number of atoms increases. The obtained nonadiabaticity is determined from the interplay of characteristic time scales for the motion of adiabatic eigenstates and for fast periodic motion around them. Critical slowing-down of these precessions near the instability leads to the power-law dependence. A linear power law Γ∝α is obtained when the initial molecular fraction is smaller than the 1∕N quantum fluctuations, and a cubic-root power law Γ∝α^1∕3 is attained when it is larger. Our mean-field analysis is confirmed by exact calculations, using Fock-space expansions. Finally, we fit experimental low temperature Feshbach sweep data with a power-law dependence. While the agreement with the experimental data is well within experimental error bars, similar accuracy can be obtained with an exponential fit, making additional data highly desirable.

We propose a scheme to create an effective magnetic field for ultracold atoms in a planar geometry. The setup allows the experimental study of classical and quantum Hall effects in close analogy to solid-state systems including the possibility of finite currents. The present scheme is an extention of the proposal in Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 033602 (2004), where the effective magnetic field is now induced for three-level Λ-type atoms by two counterpropagating laser beams with shifted spatial profiles. Under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency the atom-light interaction has a space-dependent dark state, and the adiabatic center-of-mass motion of atoms in this state experiences effective vector and scalar potentials. The associated magnetic field is oriented perpendicular to the propagation direction of the laser beams. The field strength achievable is one flux quantum over an area given by the transverse beam separation and the laser wavelength. For a sufficiently dilute gas the field is strong enough to reach the lowest Landau level regime.

We discuss the relation between entanglement and criticality in translationally invariant harmonic lattice systems with nonrandom, finite-range interactions. We show that the criticality of the system as well as validity or breakdown of the entanglement area law are solely determined by the analytic properties of the spectral function of the oscillator system, which can easily be computed. In particular, for finite-range couplings we find a one-to-one correspondence between an area-law scaling of the bipartite entanglement and a finite correlation length. This relation is strict in the one-dimensional case and there is strong evidence for the multidimensional case. We also discuss generalizations to couplings with infinite range. Finally, to illustrate our results, a specific 1D example with nearest and next-nearest-neighbor coupling is analyzed.

We consider the signatures of the integer quantum Hall effect in a degenerate gas of electrically neutral atomic fermions. An effective magnetic field is achieved by applying two incident light beams with a high orbital angular momentum. We show how states corresponding to completely filled Landau levels are obtained and discuss various possibilities to measure the incompressible nature of the trapped two-dimensional gas.

We study the dynamics of an adiabatic sweep through a Feshbach resonance in a quantum gas of fermionic atoms. Analysis of the dynamical equations, supported by mean-field and many-body numerical results, shows that the dependence of the remaining atomic fraction Γ on the sweep rate α varies from exponential Landau-Zener behavior for a single pair of particles to a power-law dependence for large particle number N. The power law is linear, Γ∝α, when the initial molecular fraction is smaller than the 1/N quantum fluctuations, and Γ∝α^1/3 when it is larger. Experimental data agree well with a linear dependence, but do not conclusively rule out the Landau-Zener model.

We show that very large nonlocal nonlinear interactions between pairs of colliding slow-light pulses can be realized in atomic vapors in the regime of electromagnetically induced transparency. These nonlinearities are mediated by strong, long-range dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg states of the multilevel atoms in a ladder configuration. In contrast to previously studied schemes, this mechanism can yield a homogeneous conditional phase shift of π even for weakly focused single-photon pulses, thereby allowing a deterministic realization of the photonic phase gate.

The influence of decoherence on quantum memories for photons based on atomic ensembles is discussed. It is shown that despite the large entanglement of the collective storage states, corresponding to single photons or nonclassical states of light, the sensitivity to decoherence does not scale with the number of atoms. This is due to the existence of equivalence classes of storage states, which have the same projection onto the relevant quasiparticle mode (dark-state polariton). Several decoherence processes resulting from uncorrelated individual reservoir couplings are analyzed in detail: single-atom spin flips and dephasing, atom loss, and motion of atoms. Furthermore, it is shown that the sensitivity to collective decoherence processes that affect all polariton modes with comparable strength does also not increase with the number of atoms.

Bipartite and global entanglement are analyzed for the ground state of a system of N spin-1∕2 particles interacting via a collective spin-spin coupling described by the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Hamiltonian. Under certain conditions, which include the special case of supersymmetry, the ground state can be constructed analytically. In the case of antiferromagnetic coupling and for an even number of particles, the system has a finite energy gap and the ground state undergoes a smooth transition, as a function of the continuous anisotropy parameter γ, from a separable (γ=∞) to a maximally entangled state (γ=0). From the analytic expression for the ground state, the bipartite entanglement between two subsets of spins as well as the global entanglement are calculated. Despite the absence of a quantum phase transition a discontinuous change of the scaling of the bipartite entanglement with the number of spins in the subsystem is found at the isotropy point γ=0: While at γ=0 the entanglement grows logarithmically with the system size with no upper bound, it saturates for γ≠0 at a level only depending on γ.

Coherent preparation by laser light of quantum states of atoms and molecules can lead to quantum interference in the amplitudes of optical transitions. In this way the optical properties of a medium can be dramatically modified, leading to electromagnetically induced transparency and related effects, which have placed gas-phase systems at the center of recent advances in the development of media with radically new optical properties. This article reviews these advances and the new possibilities they offer for nonlinear optics and quantum information science. As a basis for the theory of electromagnetically induced transparency the authors consider the atomic dynamics and the optical response of the medium to a continuous-wave laser. They then discuss pulse propagation and the adiabatic evolution of field-coupled states and show how coherently prepared media can be used to improve frequency conversion in nonlinear optical mixing experiments. The extension of these concepts to very weak optical fields in the few-photon limit is then examined. The review concludes with a discussion of future prospects and potential new applications.