H. Michinel, A. V. Carpentier, M. Martínez and S. Santos

Universidade de Vigo. Ourense campus.

Correlations in quatum gases . Maó, 30 sep. 2010

Atom Lasers and interferometers

Summary

1. Introduction.

2. Eigenstates of inhomogeneous NLSE.

3. Atomic soliton lasers.

4. Continuous atomic lasers.

5. Applications.

6. Conclusions

Atomic solitons (1998, 2002)

Basic concepts:

• The wave Y generates its own trap (a|Y|2).

• There is a continuum of fundamental eigenstates (only one in the linear case).

• What happens if a depends on x?

iYt+ xxY+(V+a|Y |2)Y=0

If a, V are step functions

Define 3 zones: I c V=0, a=0 II c V=V0 , a=0 III c V=0, a<0

e-z cos(z) sech(z) e-z cos(z) sech(z)

I II III I II III

Small a|Y|2 Large a|Y|2

Effective potential P

a

weak nonlinearity

medium nonlinearity

strong nonlinearity

It’s a magic trick? Get something out of a box… without opening or breaking it!

The wave opens the door…

Ncr=104atoms

a=-2nm

nz=0.2n^?

What if N>>Ncr

1.0

sec

L=10mm

Atom laser based on soliton emission

a

M.I. Rodas-Verde, H. Michinel and V. M. Pérez-García,Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 153903 (2005).

Symmetric case: atomic soliton interferometer

More realistic: twisting the scattering length

Continuous laser: 3-body interactions

iYt+s 2Y+(V+a|Y |2-b|Y |4)Y=iGY

Conclusions

• 1+1D NLSE with inhomogeneous nonlinearity display interesting phenomena.

• In the frame of current experiements, pulsed atomic soliton lasers can be obtained.

• Need for optical control of Feschbach resonances to produce atomic soliton pair emitters.

• 3-body elastic interactions open the door to continuous atom lasers.

Thank you for you attention!