dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA Quantum Scattering Interferometer
| Authors | Russell A. Hart, Xinye Xu, Ronald Legere, Kurt Gibble |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0702146 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0702146 |
| DOI | 10.1038/nature05680 |
| Journal | Nature 446, 892-895 (19 April 2007) |
Abstract
The collision of two ultra-cold atoms results in a quantum-mechanical superposition of two outcomes: each atom continues without scattering and each atom scatters as a spherically outgoing wave with an s-wave phase shift. The magnitude of the s-wave phase shift depends very sensitively on the interaction between the atoms. Quantum scattering and the underlying phase shifts are vitally important in many areas of contemporary atomic physics, including Bose-Einstein condensates, degenerate Fermi gases, frequency shifts in atomic clocks, and magnetically-tuned Feshbach resonances. Precise measurements of quantum scattering phase shifts have not been possible until now because, in scattering experiments, the number of scattered atoms depends on the s-wave phase shifts as well as the atomic density, which cannot be measured precisely. Here we demonstrate a fundamentally new type of scattering experiment that interferometrically detects the quantum scattering phase shifts of individual atoms. By performing an atomic clock measurement using only the scattered part of each atom, we directly and precisely measure the difference of the s-wave phase shifts for the two clock states in a density independent manner. Our method will give the most direct and precise measurements of ultracold atom-atom interactions and will place stringent limits on the time variations of fundamental constants.
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"abstract": "The collision of two ultra-cold atoms results in a quantum-mechanical\nsuperposition of two outcomes: each atom continues without scattering and each\natom scatters as a spherically outgoing wave with an s-wave phase shift. The\nmagnitude of the s-wave phase shift depends very sensitively on the interaction\nbetween the atoms. Quantum scattering and the underlying phase shifts are\nvitally important in many areas of contemporary atomic physics, including\nBose-Einstein condensates, degenerate Fermi gases, frequency shifts in atomic\nclocks, and magnetically-tuned Feshbach resonances. Precise measurements of\nquantum scattering phase shifts have not been possible until now because, in\nscattering experiments, the number of scattered atoms depends on the s-wave\nphase shifts as well as the atomic density, which cannot be measured precisely.\nHere we demonstrate a fundamentally new type of scattering experiment that\ninterferometrically detects the quantum scattering phase shifts of individual\natoms. By performing an atomic clock measurement using only the scattered part\nof each atom, we directly and precisely measure the difference of the s-wave\nphase shifts for the two clock states in a density independent manner. Our\nmethod will give the most direct and precise measurements of ultracold\natom-atom interactions and will place stringent limits on the time variations\nof fundamental constants.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0702146",
"authors": [
"Russell A. Hart",
"Xinye Xu",
"Ronald Legere",
"Kurt Gibble"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1038/nature05680",
"journal_ref": "Nature 446, 892-895 (19 April 2007)",
"title": "A Quantum Scattering Interferometer",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0702146"
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