Bulletin of the American Physical Society
43rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume 57, Number 5
Monday–Friday, June 4–8, 2012; Orange County, California
Session C6: Invited Session: Precision Measurements and Applications to Fundamental Physics |
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Sponsoring Units: GPMFC Chair: Holger Mueller, University of California, Berkeley Room: Garden 4 |
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 2:00PM - 2:30PM |
C6.00001: Precision Atom Interferometry Invited Speaker: Mark Kasevich While the current generation of atom interferometric force sensors perform at levels which compete favorably with the existing state-of-the-art, the full potential of these sensors has yet to be realized. Advances in the quality of the atom optics used to manipulate atomic de Broglie waves, the brightness of the atomic sources, and attaining full control over the quantum many-body wavefunction of the ensemble of interfering particles all promise to bring the performance levels of these sensors to levels of precision which may have dramatic future scientific and technological impact. \newline \newline This talk will review the performance of the current generation of sensors, describe recent experimental efforts to push the limits of sensor performance, and discuss future applications. In particular, a recent demonstration of a large area atom interferometer ($>$100 photon recoil momenta) based on a sequence of high-order Bragg transitions will be presented. Application of this method to the development of next generation gravity wave detectors and tests of the Equivalence Principle will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 2:30PM - 3:00PM |
C6.00002: Optical Lattice Clocks Invited Speaker: Chris Oates Since they were first proposed in 2003 [1], optical lattice clocks have become one of the leading technologies for the next generation of atomic clocks, which will be used for advanced timing applications and in tests of fundamental physics [2]. These clocks are based on stabilized lasers whose frequency is ultimately referenced to an ultra-narrow neutral atom transition (natural linewidths $<<$ 1 Hz). To suppress the effects of atomic motion/recoil, the atoms in the sample ($\sim $10$^{4}$ atoms) are confined tightly in the potential wells of an optical standing wave (lattice). The wavelength of the lattice light is tuned to its ``magic'' value so as to yield a vanishing net AC Stark shift for the clock transition. As a result lattice clocks have demonstrated the capability of generating high stability clock signals with small absolute uncertainties ($\sim $ 1 part in 10$^{16})$. In this presentation I will first give an overview of the field, which now includes three different atomic species. I will then use experiments with Yb performed in our laboratory to illustrate the key features of a lattice clock. Our research has included the development of state-of-the-art optical cavities enabling ultra-high-resolution optical spectroscopy (1 Hz linewidth). Together with the large atom number in the optical lattice, we are able to achieve very low clock instability ($<$ 0.3 Hz in 1 s) [3]. Furthermore, I will show results from some of our recent investigations of key shifts for the Yb lattice clock, including high precision measurements of ultracold atom-atom interactions in the lattice and the dc Stark effect for the Yb clock transition (necessary for the evaluation of blackbody radiation shifts). \\[4pt] [1] H. Katori, M. Takamoto, V. G. Pal'chikov, and V. D. Ovsiannikov, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{91}, 173005 (2003). \\[0pt] [2] Andrei Derevianko and Hidetoshi Katori, Rev. Mod. Phys. \textbf{83}, 331 (2011). \\[0pt] [3] Y. Y. Jiang, A. D. Ludlow, N. D. Lemke, R. W. Fox, J. A. Sherman, L.-S. Ma, and C. W. Oates, Nature Photonics \textbf{5}, 158 (2011). [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 3:00PM - 3:30PM |
C6.00003: Ultrastable lasers for precision spectroscopy in a $^{87}$Sr optical lattice clock Invited Speaker: Michael Martin Optical interferometers are central components of many modern experiments (\textit{e.g.}, LIGO, cavity QED, optomechanics, and optical clocks). These experiments share a common thread: their precision is in many cases limited by fundamental thermo-mechanical noise within the interferometer. A focus of our current work has been to reduce the impact of this noise on the length stability of optical cavities used for laser stabilization, and we have achieved fractional frequency instability at the $10^{-16}$ level in several systems. Of these systems, the new ultrastable clock laser at JILA has enabled us to explore the many-body physics of interactions in a $^{87}$Sr optical lattice clock. The impetus to continue improving laser stability has also led us, in collaboration with colleagues at PTB, beyond glasses typically employed in optical cavities for laser stabilization. By constructing an optical cavity out of monocrystalline silicon, we have been able to demonstrate laser linewidths below 35 mHz, and short-term instability below $1\times 10^{-16}$. In this talk I will present these new developments in precision laser stabilization and how they relate to exploring the many-body nature of the JILA $^{87}$Sr optical lattice clock. \\[4pt] This work was performed in collaboration with: M.~D. Swallows, M.~N. Bishof, C.~A. Benko, J. von~Stecher, A.~M. Rey, and J.~Ye (JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado); and T. Kessler, C. Hagemann, U. Sterr, and F. Riehle (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)) [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 3:30PM - 4:00PM |
C6.00004: Quantum optomechanics: exploring the interface between quantum physics and gravity Invited Speaker: Markus Aspelmeyer Massive mechanical objects are now becoming available as new systems for quantum science. Quantum optics provides a powerful toolbox to generate, manipulate and detect quantum states of motion of such mechanical systems -- from nanomechanical waveguides of some picogram to macroscopic, kilogram-weight mirrors of gravitational wave detectors. Recent experiments, including laser-cooling of massive mechanical devices into their quantum ground state of motion, and demonstrations of the strong coupling regime provide the primary building blocks for full quantum optical control of mechanics, i.e. quantum optomechanics. This has fascinating perspectives for both applications and for quantum foundations: For example, the on-chip integrability of nano- and micromechanics, together with their flexibility to couple to different physical systems, offers a novel perspective for solid-state quantum information processing architectures. At the same time, the mass and size of mechanical resonators provides access to a hitherto untested parameter regime of macroscopic quantum physics via the generation of superposition states of massive systems and of optomechanical quantum entanglement, which is at the heart of Schr\"odinger's cat paradox. Finally, and somewhat surprisingly, due to the large available masses it becomes even possible to explore the fascinating interface between quantum physics and (quantum) gravity in table-top quantum optics experiments. I will discuss a few examples. [Preview Abstract] |
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