Bulletin of the American Physical Society
12th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of the APS
Volume 55, Number 6
Friday–Saturday, October 1–2, 2010; Walla Walla, Washington
Session H4: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics |
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Chair: Daniel Steck, University of Oregon Room: Science 276 |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
H4.00001: Ultracold Atoms, Mixtures, and Molecules Invited Speaker: Atom control through laser cooling and trapping techniques has opened up a large range of activity within atomic physics over the last two decades. This spans highly accurate atomic clocks, precision inertial sensors, and quantum many-body systems including the Bose-Einstein Condensate and the Fermi superfluid. The precise control extends to internal and motional states of atoms, as well as to inter-atomic interactions. A major avenue of current investigation is the achievement of similar control over molecules. We perform cooling and simultaneous trapping of two different atomic species, lithium and ytterbium, at microKelvin temperatures. This forms a starting point for experiments probing aspects of superfluidity in ultracold mixtures, and the synthesis of dipolar molecules through interspecies resonances. Dipolar molecules are predicted to give rise to new many-body phases, and are also strong candidates for quantum information processing applications. Ground state polar LiYb is also a promising candidate for a sensitive test of time reversal symmetry. I will present our experimental progress and future plans with this system. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
H4.00002: Nonlinear hydrodynamics in single-component and binary Bose-Einstein condensates Peter Engels, Chris Hamner, JiaJia Chang We investigate the rich dynamics of quantum hydrodynamics in Bose-Einstein condensates. In single component systems even apparently simple operations such as merging two condensates can lead to complex effects like the formation of dispersive shock waves and trains of dark solitons. In binary Bose-Einstein condensates, i.e. condensates comprised of two distinguishable types of atoms, the counterflow of two superfluids is an additional degree of freedom that leads to even richer dynamics, including intercomponent shocks, modulational instability, dark-bright solitons and novel dark-dark solitons. In this talk an introduction to quantum hydrodynamics and an overview of our recent and ongoing experiments will be given. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
H4.00003: Intercomponent dispersive shock in counterflowing BECs JiaJia Chang, Chris Hamner, Peter Engels Superfluids can display an intriguing variety of hydrodynamic effects. In our experiment, we study the counterflow of two distinguishable superfluids in a narrow channel. The superfluids are formed by two different hyperfine states of a $^{87}$Rb Bose-Einstein condensate. We present experimental results in which, for the first time, the formation of inter-component dispersive shock waves is observed as a consequence of the counterflow. We show that these shock waves consist of trains of dark-bright solitons, and we investigate their dynamics. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
H4.00004: Off-the-shelf Atom Trapping Simone Carpenter, Jenny Novak, Marcus Kienlen, Andrew Dawes We present results from a new commercial system available for cooling and trapping rubidium atoms in a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT). The compact miniMOT system offered by Cold Quanta, Inc. consists of an ion pump, evacuated pyrex cell, and a rubidium source. The MOT system eliminates the need for ultra-high vacuum apparatus and expertise making it appropriate for undergraduate teaching and research labs. Our MOT has been implemented and maintained by student researchers. Using standard optical components, we have utilized three common trap geometries with this system: a standard spherical 6-beam MOT, a spherical mirror-MOT, and an anisotropic mirror-MOT. We present results of trap characterization and cold-atom spectroscopy in these configurations and discuss possible undergraduate teaching lab activities. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
H4.00005: Counterflow induced modulational instability in miscible, two-component BECs Chris Hamner, JiaJia Chang, Peter Engels In this talk we will describe our recent and ongoing experiments investigating modulational instability in a miscible, two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We find that such a modulational instability can be induced by generating sufficiently fast counterflow of two superfluid components. The instability leads to the proliferation of novel dark-dark vector solitons which can experience a transverse (snake) instability. To our knowledge this is the first time that this type of soliton has been experimentally realized in a Bose-Einstein condensate. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
H4.00006: Photo-Induced Deformations of Liquid Crystal Elastomers Nathan Dawson, Mark Kuzyk, Jeremy Neal, Paul Luchette, Peter Palffy-Muhoray Over a century ago, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted mechanical information on a beam of light using the ``photophone.'' We report on the use of a Fabry-Perot interferometer to encode and detect mechanical information of an illuminated liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) that is placed at a critical point between the reflectors. Furthermore, we show that cascading of macroscopic LCE-interferometer devices is possible. These are the first steps in the creation of ultra smart materials. Such applications require materials with a large photomechanical response. Thus, understanding the underlying mechanisms is critical. Only limited studies of the mechanisms of photomechanical effects have been studied in azo-dye-doped LCEs. The focus of our present work is to use the Fabry-Perot transducer geometry to study the underlying mechanisms and to determine the relevant material parameters that are used to develop theoretical models of the response. We use various intensity-modulated optical wave forms to determine the frequency response of the material, which are used to predict the material response in the time domain. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 3:06PM - 3:20PM |
H4.00007: BREAK
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Saturday, October 2, 2010 3:20PM - 3:56PM |
H4.00008: Technology of light at a few-photon level Invited Speaker: Although the photon has been discovered over a century ago, our capabilities to control quantum light are still strongly limited. Until recently, we could only produce some of its very basic states. However, the past decade has seen tremendous progress in techniques for synthesizing, manipulating, and characterizing a variety of quantum states of the electromagnetic field. In my talk, I will review this progress and report on our group's most recent experiment in which we demonstrated preparation of arbitrary superpositions of zero-, one- and two-photon states. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 3:56PM - 4:08PM |
H4.00009: Monte Carlo Studies of Nonlinear Optical Susceptibilities of Classes of Physical Potentials Shoresh Shafei, Mark G. Kuzyk The fundamental limit of the first- and second-order hyperpolarizabilities in the off-resonant regime, $\beta$ and $\gamma$ respectively, have been calculated using three level ansatz, which states that when $\beta$ and $\gamma$ are at the limit, only two excited states contribute. However, experimental results reveal a factor-of-thirty gap between experimentally measured values of the hyperpolarizability and the fundamental limit. We apply the Monte Carlo method to study the nature and characteristics of various energy level spacing that corresponds to classes of potentials to investigate why the hyperpolarizabilities are far below the limit. We also use the Monte Carlo simulations to address the gap between experimental values and the analytical results to verify numerically if the three level ansatz is valid. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 4:08PM - 4:20PM |
H4.00010: Imaging studies of photodamage and self healing in Disperse Orange 11 dye-doped PMMA Benjamin Anderson, Shiva Ramini, Mark Kuzyk Photodamage occurs when a material is exposed to intense light. Damage to dye- doped polymers is of particular interest because many applications, such as all-optical switching materials, require intensities near the damage threshold to operate. Using optical imaging techniques we characterize the recovery of photodegraded disperse orange 11 dye doped PMMA thin films and compare results to our previous research using amplified spontaneous emission(ASE) and absorbance. We find that the recovery rates are consistent, but find a damage threshold above which the material does not fully recover. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 2, 2010 4:20PM - 4:32PM |
H4.00011: Vacuum low-temperature superconductivity is the essence of superconductivity - Atomic New Theory Han Yongquan The universe when the temperature closest to the Big Bang the temperature should be nuclear. Because, after the big bang, instant formation of atoms, nuclei and electrons between the absolute vacuum, the nucleus can not emit energy. (Radioactive elements, except in fact, radiation Yuan Su limited power emitted) which causes atomic nuclei and external temperature difference are so enormous that a large temperature difference reasons, all external particles became closer to the nucleus, affect the motion of electrons. When the conductor conductivity and thus affect the conductivity, the formation of resistance. Assumption that no particles affect the motion of electrons (except outside the nucleus) to form a potential difference will not change after the vector form, is now talking about the phenomenon of superconductivity, and then to introduce general, the gap between atoms in molecules or between small, valence electron number of high temperature superconducting conductors. This theory of atomic nuclei, but also explain the atomic and hydrogen bombs can remain after an explosion Why can release enormous energy reasons. Can also explain the ``super flow'' phenomenon. natural world. Tel 13241375685 [Preview Abstract] |
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