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Nonlinear and Quantum Atom Optics

Published

Author(s)

S L. Rolston, William D. Phillips

Abstract

Coherent matter waves in the form of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) have led to the development of non-linear and quantum atom optics, the deBroglie-wave analogs to non-linear and quantum optics with light. Four-wave mixing of matter waves and combination of light waves and matter waves have been observed, leading to the development of phase-coherent matter-wave amplifiers. Solitons, non-dispersing propagating modes of the non-linear Schrodinger equation that governs BECs, have been created and observed to break up into vortices. In a BEC partitioned into a series of optical potential wells, reduced number fluctuations have been measured, the beginning of the field of quantum atom optics, which is concerned with the statisical properties and correlations in matter wave fields.
Citation
Nature
Volume
416
Issue
No. 6877

Keywords

atom optics, Bose-Einstein condensation, deBroglie waves, solitons, squeezing

Citation

Rolston, S. and Phillips, W. (2002), Nonlinear and Quantum Atom Optics, Nature (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created March 1, 2002, Updated June 2, 2021