dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaWhat is an atom laser?
| Authors | Howard M. Wiseman |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9611033 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9611033 |
Abstract
An atom laser is a hypothetical device which would produce an atomic field analogous to the electromagnetic field of a photon laser. Here I argue that for this analogy to be meaningful it is necessary to have a precise definition of a laser which applies equally to photon or atom lasers. The definition I propose is based upon the principle that the output of a laser is well-approximated by a classical wave of fixed intensity and phase. This principle yields four quantitative conditions which the output of a device must satisfy in order for that device to be considered a laser. While explaining these requirements, I analyse the similarities and differences between atom and photon lasers. I show how these conditions are satisfied first by an idealized photon laser model, and then by a more generic model which can apply to atom lasers also. Lastly, I briefly discuss the current proposals for atom lasers and whether they could be true lasers.
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"abstract": "An atom laser is a hypothetical device which would produce an atomic field\nanalogous to the electromagnetic field of a photon laser. Here I argue that for\nthis analogy to be meaningful it is necessary to have a precise definition of a\nlaser which applies equally to photon or atom lasers. The definition I propose\nis based upon the principle that the output of a laser is well-approximated by\na classical wave of fixed intensity and phase. This principle yields four\nquantitative conditions which the output of a device must satisfy in order for\nthat device to be considered a laser. While explaining these requirements, I\nanalyse the similarities and differences between atom and photon lasers. I show\nhow these conditions are satisfied first by an idealized photon laser model,\nand then by a more generic model which can apply to atom lasers also. Lastly, I\nbriefly discuss the current proposals for atom lasers and whether they could be\ntrue lasers.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9611033",
"authors": [
"Howard M. Wiseman"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "What is an atom laser?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9611033"
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