dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaSelf-organization of atoms in a cavity field: threshold, bistability and scaling laws
| Authors | J. K. Asboth, P. Domokos, H. Ritsch, A. Vukics |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0508074 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0508074 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.72.053417 |
| Journal | Phys. Rev. A 72, 05341 (2005) |
Abstract
We present a detailed study of the spatial self-organization of laser-driven atoms in an optical cavity, an effect predicted on the basis of numerical simulations [P. Domokos and H. Ritsch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 253003 (2002)] and observed experimentally [A. T. Black et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 203001 (2003)]. Above a threshold in the driving laser intensity, from a uniform distribution the atoms evolve into one of two stable patterns that produce superradiant scattering into the cavity. We derive analytic formulas for the threshold and critical exponent of this phase transition from a mean-field approach. Numerical simulations of the microscopic dynamics reveal that, on laboratory timescale, a hysteresis masks the mean-field behaviour. Simple physical arguments explain this phenomenon and provide analytical expressions for the observable threshold. Above a certain density of the atoms a limited number of ``defects'' appear in the organized phase, and influence the statistical properties of the system. The scaling of the cavity cooling mechanism and the phase space density with the atom number is also studied.
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"abstract": "We present a detailed study of the spatial self-organization of laser-driven\natoms in an optical cavity, an effect predicted on the basis of numerical\nsimulations [P. Domokos and H. Ritsch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 253003 (2002)] and\nobserved experimentally [A. T. Black et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 203001\n(2003)]. Above a threshold in the driving laser intensity, from a uniform\ndistribution the atoms evolve into one of two stable patterns that produce\nsuperradiant scattering into the cavity. We derive analytic formulas for the\nthreshold and critical exponent of this phase transition from a mean-field\napproach. Numerical simulations of the microscopic dynamics reveal that, on\nlaboratory timescale, a hysteresis masks the mean-field behaviour. Simple\nphysical arguments explain this phenomenon and provide analytical expressions\nfor the observable threshold. Above a certain density of the atoms a limited\nnumber of ``defects\u0027\u0027 appear in the organized phase, and influence the\nstatistical properties of the system. The scaling of the cavity cooling\nmechanism and the phase space density with the atom number is also studied.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0508074",
"authors": [
"J. K. Asboth",
"P. Domokos",
"H. Ritsch",
"A. Vukics"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.72.053417",
"journal_ref": "Phys. Rev. A 72, 05341 (2005)",
"title": "Self-organization of atoms in a cavity field: threshold, bistability and scaling laws",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0508074"
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