Observation of resonant symmetry lifting by an effective bias field in a parametrically modulated atomic trap

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate resonant symmetry lifting in a parametrically modulated magneto-optical trap of cold {sup 85}Rb atoms. This is achieved by applying a weak additional modulation at half the frequency of the strong parametric modulation, which acts as an effective static bias field to the system. We measure the system response by varying the amplitude of the additional fictitious bias as well as the relative phase between the bias and the parametric drive, and the results are in good agreement with theory. The additional modulation provides an additional degree of freedom to control the system, which is useful for investigating system properties such as susceptibility, dynamic response, and related critical phenomena. We also have measured the amplitude of the response to higher harmonics of the additional modulation frequency, which allows more precise understanding of the system dynamics.