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Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...

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In general the polarizability, <strong>and</strong> thus the energy shift, is different for all a<strong>to</strong>mic<br />

energy levels. It is thus possible for the ground <strong>and</strong> excited state <strong>to</strong> have opposite signs,<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> general the energy shift of the two levels will not be identical.<br />

The AC-Stark effect poses a number of challenges for spectroscopic measurements.<br />

S<strong>in</strong>ce the AC-Stark shift depends on the <strong>in</strong>tensity of light, the transition frequency will<br />

vary <strong>in</strong>side the trap, lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> a broaden<strong>in</strong>g of the observed transition l<strong>in</strong>ewidth. In<br />

addition, the absolute value of the frequency will depend on the trapp<strong>in</strong>g laser <strong>in</strong>tensity,<br />

<strong>and</strong> will be broadened by any <strong>in</strong>tensity fluctuations <strong>in</strong> the trapp<strong>in</strong>g potential. If the<br />

polarizability has different signs for the two states <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the transition, it is possible<br />

<strong>to</strong> drive an a<strong>to</strong>m <strong>to</strong> an anti-trapped state, lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> trap loss.<br />

The special wavelength at which the ground <strong>and</strong> excited state polarizabilities are<br />

identical is called the ”magic” wavelength. At the magic wavelength the transition fre-<br />

quency is <strong>in</strong>dependent of the laser <strong>in</strong>tensity, <strong>and</strong> broaden<strong>in</strong>g mechanisms are suppressed.<br />

It is possible <strong>to</strong> extend this concept <strong>and</strong> impose additional requirements, such as co<strong>in</strong>-<br />

cidence between the magnetic dipole or electric quadrupole <strong>in</strong>teractions [129, 130]. For<br />

the purpose of this dissertation the analysis is restricted <strong>to</strong> the electric dipole moment.<br />

Magic wavelengths have been calculated <strong>and</strong> measured for a number of elements, mostly<br />

alkal<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> alkal<strong>in</strong>e earth elements [83, 131–135].<br />

A.2 Calculations for Hydrogen<br />

Hydrogen is the simplest a<strong>to</strong>m <strong>in</strong> the periodic table of elements. Due <strong>to</strong> its<br />

simplicity it allows precise comparison between theory <strong>and</strong> experiment, <strong>and</strong> the spec-<br />

troscopy of hydrogen has led <strong>to</strong> precise measurements of fundamental constants such as<br />

the Rydberg constant [136]. The spectroscopy of hydrogen <strong>and</strong> its iso<strong>to</strong>pes is therefore<br />

of tremendous value <strong>to</strong> fundamental physics research.<br />

Us<strong>in</strong>g equation A.1 the scalar polarizability of the 1s <strong>and</strong> 2s states of a<strong>to</strong>mic<br />

hydrogen are calculated. The polarizability α is approximated us<strong>in</strong>g the lead<strong>in</strong>g terms<br />

<strong>in</strong> the sum. Figure A.1 shows the polarizability as a function of the wavelength when<br />

the first 12 transitions are <strong>in</strong>cluded for the ground state polarizability, <strong>and</strong> the first 10<br />

175

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