Magnetic Feshbach Resonances Research Articles

Shifts and widths of p-wave confinement induced resonances in atomic waveguides

We develop and analyze a theoretical model to study p-wave Feshbach resonances of identical fermions in atomic waveguides by extending the two-channel model of Lange et al (2009 Phys. Rev. A 79 013622) and Saeidian et al (2012 Phys. Rev. A 86 062713). The experimentally known parameters of Feshbach resonances in free space are used as input of the model. We calculate the shifts and widths of p-wave magnetic Feshbach resonance of 40K atoms emerging in harmonic waveguides as p-wave confinement induced resonance (CIR). Particularly, we show a possibility to control the width and shift of the p-wave CIR by the trap frequency and the applied magnetic field which could be used in corresponding experiments. Our analysis also demonstrates the importance of the inclusion of the effective range in the computational schemes for the description of the p-wave CIRs contrary to the case of s-wave CIRs where the influence of this term is negligible.

Two-color laser modulation of magnetic Feshbach resonances**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10974024 and 11274056).

We investigate the two-color laser modulation of the magnetically induced Feshbach resonance. The two-color laser is nearly resonant with an optical bound-to-bound transition at the resonance position. The analytical formula of scattering length is obtained by solving the Heisenberg equation. The scattering length can be modified by changing the Rabi frequencies or optical field frequency. By choosing the suitable optical parameters, the two-body loss coefficient K2 can be greatly reduced compared to the usual single optical scheme.

Intermode-coupling modulation in the fermion-boson model: heating effects in the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer regime

Heating induced by an oscillating modulation of the interaction strength in an atomic Fermion pair condensate is analyzed. The coupled fermion-boson model, generalized by incorporating a time-dependent intermode coupling through a magnetic Feshbach resonance, is applied. The dynamics are analytically characterized in a perturbative scheme. The results account for experimental findings which have uncovered a damped and delayed response of the condensate to the modulation. The delay is due to the variation of the quasiparticle energies and the subsequent relaxation of the condensate. The detected damping results from the excitations induced by a nonadiabatic modulation: for driving frequencies larger than twice the pairing gap, quasiparticles are generated and, consequently, heating sets in.

Magnetic field dependent interactions in an ultracold Li–Yb(3P2) mixture

Magnetic Feshbach resonances have allowed great success in the production of ultracold diatomic molecules from bi-alkali mixtures, but have so far eluded observation in mixtures of alkali and alkaline-earth-like atoms. Inelastic collisional properties of ultracold atomic systems exhibit resonant behavior in the vicinity of such resonances, providing a detection signature. We study magnetic field dependent inelastic effects via atom loss spectroscopy in an ultracold heteronuclear mixture of alkali 6Li in the ground state and alkaline-earth-like 174Yb in an excited electronic metastable state (3P2, ). We observe a variation of the interspecies inelastic two-body rate coefficient by nearly one order of magnitude over a 100–520 G magnetic field range. By comparing to ab initio calculations we link our observations to interspecies Feshbach resonances arising from anisotropic interactions in this novel collisional system.

Ultracold-atom collisions in atomic waveguides: A two-channel analysis

Low dimensional behavior of two ultra-cold atoms trapped in two-and one-dimensional waveguides is investigated in the vicinity of a magnetic Feshbach resonance. A quantitative two-channel model for the Feshbach mechanism is used allowing an exhaustive analysis of low-dimensional resonant scattering behavior and of the confinement induced bound states. The role of the different parameters of the resonance is depicted in this context. Results are compared with the ones of the zero-range approach. The relevance of the effective range approximation in low dimensions is studied. Examples of known resonances are used to illustrate the bound state properties.

Feshbach molecule formation through an oscillating magnetic field: subharmonic resonances

The conversion of ultracold atoms to molecules via a magnetic Feshbach resonance with a sinusoidal modulation of the field is studied. Different practical realizations of this method in Bose atomic gases are analyzed. Our model incorporates many-body effects through an effective reduction of the complete microscopic dynamics. Moreover, we simulate the experimental conditions corresponding to the preparation of the system as a thermal gas and as a condensate. Some of the experimental findings are clarified. The origin of the observed dependence of the production efficiency on the frequency, amplitude, and application time of the magnetic modulation is elucidated. Our results uncover also the role of the atomic density in the dynamics, specifically, in the observed saturation of the atom–molecule conversion process.

Creation and manipulation of bound states in the continuum with lasers: Applications to cold atoms and molecules

It is possible to create and manipulate bound states in continuum in atom-atom cold collisions by lasers and a magnetic field, employing currently available techniques of photoaasociation and magnetic Feshbach resonance.

Tuning a magnetic Feshbach resonance with spatially modulated laser light

We theoretically investigate the control of a magnetic Feshbach resonance using a bound-to-bound molecular transition driven by spatially modulated laser light. Due to the spatially periodic coupling between the ground and excited molecular states, there exists a band structure of bound states, which can uniquely be characterized by some extra bumps in radio-frequency spectroscopy. With the increasing of coupling strength, the series of bound states will cross zero energy and directly result in a number of scattering resonances, whose position and width can be conveniently tuned by the coupling strength of the laser light and the applied magnetic field (i.e., the detuning of the ground molecular state). In the presence of the modulated laser light, universal two-body bound states near zero-energy threshold still exist. However, compared with the case without modulation, the regime for such universal states is usually small. An unified formula which embodies the influence of the modulated coupling on the resonance width is given. The spatially modulated coupling also implies a local spatially varying interaction between atoms. Our work proposes a practical way of optically controlling interatomic interactions with high spatial resolution and negligible atomic loss.

Multichannel quantum-defect theory for magnetic Feshbach resonances in heteronuclear group-I systems

We present a multichannel quantum-defect theory for magnetic Feshbach resonances in the interaction of two heteronuclear group I atoms. The theory provides a unified and a uniform description of resonances in all partial waves, and enables the characterization of large number of resonances in terms of very few parameters. For the sample system of $^6$Li$^{40}$K, we present descriptions of all resonances in $aa$, $ab$, and $ba$ channels, in partial waves $s$ ($l=0$) through $h$ ($l=5$), and in a magnetic field of 0 through 1000 Gauss. All resonances, including those in nonzero partial waves, are fully characterized using the newly developed parametrization of Gao [Phy. Rev. A \textbf{84}, 022706 (2011)].

Fast quantum gate via Feshbach-Pauli blocking in a nanoplasmonic trap.

We propose a simple idea for realizing a quantum gate with two fermions in a double well trap via external optical pulses without addressing the atoms individually. The key components of the scheme are Feshbach resonance and Pauli blocking, which decouple unwanted states from the dynamics. As a physical example we study atoms in the presence of a magnetic Feshbach resonance in a nanoplasmonic trap and discuss the constraints on the operation times for realistic parameters, reaching a fidelity above 99.9% within 42 μs, much shorter than existing atomic gate schemes.

Manipulation of p-wave scattering of cold atoms in low dimensions using the magnetic field vector.

It is well known that the magnetic Feshbach resonances of cold atoms are sensitive to the magnitude of the external magnetic field. Much less attention has been paid to the direction of such a field. In this work we calculate the scattering properties of spin polarized fermionic atoms in reduced dimensions, near a p-wave Feshbach resonance. Because of the spatial anisotropy of the p-wave interaction, the scattering has a nontrivial dependence on both the magnitude and the direction of the magnetic field. In addition, we identify an inelastic scattering process which is impossible in the isotropic-interaction model; the rate of this process depends considerably on the direction of the magnetic field. Significantly, an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled pair of identical fermions may be produced during this inelastic collision. This work opens a new method to manipulate resonant cold atomic interactions.

Ultra-High Efficiency Magnetic Transport of 87Rb Atoms in a Single Chamber Bose—Einstein Condensation Apparatus

We report the ultra-high efficiency transport of cold 87Rb atoms using a moving magnetic quadrupole potential generated by three overlapping pairs of fixed coils. The transfer efficiency is better than 97%, which is the highest ever reported to our knowledge. The temperature increase due to heating is less than 10 when the initial cloud temperature is 110 μK. Our setup is similar to the magnetic transferring belt design [Phys. Rev. A 63 (2001) 031401(R)], although it is simpler because the push coil is not required. We use it to transport atoms away from a magneto-optical trap to very close to the wall of the glass cell, facilitating future experiments employing three-dimensional optical lattices, high resolution in-situ imaging, and magnetic Feshbach resonances.

Resonances in ultracold collisions confined by atomic traps

We have developed a method for treating ultracold pair collisions in confined geometry of tight atomic waveguides. With this approach we have predicted and analyzed a few novel resonant and multichannel effects induced by confining traps in ultracold atomic collisions. In this report we discuss our model yielding the shifts and widths of magnetic Feshbach resonances in tight atomic waveguides. We also briefly discuss a resonant mechanism of molecule formation in atomic traps with transferring the energy release to the center-of-mass excitation while forming molecule and dipolar confinement-induced resonances in waveguides. These results could potentially be used experimentally.

Magnetic Feshbach resonances in collisions of nonmagnetic closed-shell1Σmolecules

Magnetic Feshbach resonances play a central role in experimental research of atomic gases at ultracold temperatures, as they allow one to control the microscopic interactions between ultracold atoms by tuning an applied magnetic field. These resonances arise due to strong hyperfine interactions between the unpaired electron and the nuclear magnetic moment of the alkali metal atoms. A major thrust of current research is to create an ultracold gas of diatomic alkali-metal molecules in the ground rovibrational state of the ground electronic $^1\Sigma$ state. Unlike alkali metal atoms, $^1\Sigma$ diatomic molecules have no unpaired electrons. However, the hyperfine interactions of molecules may give rise to magnetic Feshbach resonances. We use quantum scattering calculations to study the possible width of these resonances. Our results show that the widths of magnetic Feshbach resonances in ultracold molecule-molecule collisions for $^1\Sigma$ molecules may exceed 1 milliGauss, rendering such resonances experimentally detectable. We hope that this work will stimulate the experimental search of these resonances.

Controlling Magnetic Feshbach Resonances in Polar Open-Shell Molecules with Nonresonant Light

Magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances for polar paramagnetic ground-state diatomics are too narrow to allow for magnetoassociation starting from trapped, ultracold atoms. We show that nonresonant light can be used to engineer the Feshbach resonances in their position and width. For nonresonant field intensities of the order of 10(9) W/cm(2), we find the width to be increased by 3 orders of magnitude, reaching a few Gauss. This opens the way for producing ultracold molecules with sizable electric and magnetic dipole moments and thus for many-body quantum simulations with such particles.

Ultracold Heteronuclear Mixture of Ground and Excited State Atoms

We report on the realization of an ultracold mixture of lithium atoms in the ground state and ytterbium atoms in an excited metastable (3P2) state. Such a mixture can support broad magnetic Feshbach resonances which may be utilized for the production of ultracold molecules with an electronic spin degree of freedom, as well as novel Efimov trimers. We investigate the interaction properties of the mixture in the presence of an external magnetic field and find an upper limit for the background interspecies two-body inelastic decay coefficient of K2'<3×10(-12) cm3/s for the 3P2 mJ=-1 substate. We calculate the dynamic polarizabilities of the Yb(3P2) magnetic substates for a range of wavelengths, and find good agreement with our measurements at 1064 nm. Our calculations also allow the identification of magic frequencies where Yb ground and metastable states are identically trapped and the determination of the interspecies van der Waals coefficients.

Feshbach-optimized photoassociation of ultracold6Li87Rb molecules with short pulses

Two-color photoassociation of ground state $^6$Li$^{87}$Rb molecules via the $\mathrm{B}^1\Pi$ electronic state using short pulses near a magnetic Feshbach resonance is studied theoretically. A near-resonant magnetic field is applied to mix the hyperfine singlet and triplet components of the initial wave function and enhance the photoassociation rate, before the population is transferred to the ground state by a second pulse. We show that an increase of up to three orders of magnitude in the absolute number of molecules produced is attainable for deeply bound vibrational levels. This technique can be generalized to other molecules with accessible magnetic Feshbach resonances.

Coherent control of quantum collapse in a Bosonic Josephson junction by modulation of the scattering length

By means of a temporal-periodic modulation of the s-wave scattering length, a procedure to control the evolution of an initial atomic coherent state associated with a bosonic Josephson junction is presented. The scheme developed has a remarkable advantage of avoiding the quantum collapse of the state due to phase and number diffusion. This kind of control could prove useful for atom interferometry using BECs, where the interactions limit the evolution time stage within the interferometer, and where the modulation can be induced via magnetic Feshbach resonances as recently experimentally demonstrated.

Optical control of magnetic Feshbach resonances in Bose gases

Abstract We theoretically investigate optical control of magnetic Feshbach resonance in Bose gases with two optical fields. The two optical fields couple two ground states through an excited state. Compared with the usual single-optical scheme, two optical fields can greatly suppress the inelastic loss resulting from spontaneous emission by the destructive quantum interference. Using the mean field theory, the analytical formula of the scattering length is obtained. The results show that the scattering length can be modified in a large range by changing the Rabi frequency or the optical field frequency. The strong atom–molecule interaction has obvious effect on the scattering length.

Optical control of a magnetic Feshbach resonance in an ultracold Fermi gas

We use laser light near resonant with a molecular bound-to-bound transition to control a magnetic Feshbach resonance in ultracold Fermi gases of ${}^{40}$K atoms. The spectrum of excited molecular states is measured by applying a laser field that couples the ground Feshbach molecular state to electronically excited molecular states. Nine strong bound-to-bound resonances are observed below the ${}^{2}{P}_{1/2}+{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}$ threshold. We use radio-frequency spectroscopy to characterize the laser-dressed bound state near a specific bound-to-bound resonance and show clearly the shift of the magnetic Feshbach resonance using light. The demonstrated technology could be used to modify interatomic interactions with high spatial and temporal resolutions in the crossover regime from a Bose-Einstein condensate to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid.