dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaRecoil Effects in Microwave Ramsey Spectroscopy
| Authors | Peter Wolf, Christian J. Borde |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0403194 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0403194 |
Abstract
We present a theory of recoil effects in two zone Ramsey spectroscopy, particularly adapted to microwave frequency standards using laser cooled atoms. We describe the atoms by a statistical distribution of Gaussian wave packets which enables us to derive and quantify effects that are related to the coherence properties of the atomic source and that have not been considered previously. We show that, depending on the experimental conditions, the expected recoil frequency shift can be partially cancelled by these effects which can be significant at microwave wavelengths whilst negligible at optical ones. We derive analytical expressions for the observed interference signal in the weak field approximation, and numerical results for realistic caesium fountain parameters. In the near future Cs and Rb fountain clocks are expected to reach uncertainties which are of the same order of magnitude (10^{-16}) as first estimates of the recoil shift at microwave frequencies. We show, however, that the partial cancellation predicted by the complete theory presented here leads to frequency shifts which are up to an order of magnitude smaller. Nonetheless observation of the microwave recoil shift should be possible under particular experimental conditions (increased microwave power, variation of atomic temperature and launching height etc.). We hope that the present paper can provide some guidance for such experiments that would test the underlying theory and its assumptions, which in turn is essential for the next generation of microwave frequency standards.
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"abstract": "We present a theory of recoil effects in two zone Ramsey spectroscopy,\nparticularly adapted to microwave frequency standards using laser cooled atoms.\nWe describe the atoms by a statistical distribution of Gaussian wave packets\nwhich enables us to derive and quantify effects that are related to the\ncoherence properties of the atomic source and that have not been considered\npreviously. We show that, depending on the experimental conditions, the\nexpected recoil frequency shift can be partially cancelled by these effects\nwhich can be significant at microwave wavelengths whilst negligible at optical\nones. We derive analytical expressions for the observed interference signal in\nthe weak field approximation, and numerical results for realistic caesium\nfountain parameters. In the near future Cs and Rb fountain clocks are expected\nto reach uncertainties which are of the same order of magnitude (10^{-16}) as\nfirst estimates of the recoil shift at microwave frequencies. We show, however,\nthat the partial cancellation predicted by the complete theory presented here\nleads to frequency shifts which are up to an order of magnitude smaller.\nNonetheless observation of the microwave recoil shift should be possible under\nparticular experimental conditions (increased microwave power, variation of\natomic temperature and launching height etc.). We hope that the present paper\ncan provide some guidance for such experiments that would test the underlying\ntheory and its assumptions, which in turn is essential for the next generation\nof microwave frequency standards.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0403194",
"authors": [
"Peter Wolf",
"Christian J. Borde"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "Recoil Effects in Microwave Ramsey Spectroscopy",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0403194"
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