Quantum motor: Directed wave-packet motion in an optical lattice

Quantum motor: directed wavepacket motion in an optical lattice

Quantum wave packet revivals

The numerical prediction, theoretical analysis, and experimental verification of the phenomenon of wave packet revivals in quantum systems has flourished over the last decade and a half. Quantum revivals are characterized by initially localized quantum states which have a short-term, quasi-classical time evolution, which then can spread significantly over several orbits, only to reform later in...

Mesoscopic quantum coherence in an optical lattice

We observe the quantum coherent dynamics of atomic spinor wave packets in the double-well potentials of a far-off-resonance optical lattice. With appropriate initial conditions the system Rabi oscillates between the left and right localized states of the ground doublet, and at certain times the wave packet corresponds to a coherent superposition of these mesoscopically distinct quantum states. ...

Quantum memory in an optical lattice

Arrays of atoms trapped in optical lattices are appealing as storage media for photons, since motional dephasing of the atoms is eliminated. The regular lattice is also associated with band structure in the dispersion experienced by incident photons. Here we study the influence of this band structure on the efficiency of quantum memories based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) a...

Geometrical aspects in optical wave-packet dynamics.

We construct a semiclassical theory for propagation of an optical wave packet in a nonconducting medium with a periodic structure of dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability, i.e., a nonconducting photonic crystal. We employ a quantum-mechanical formalism in order to clarify its link to those of electronic systems. It involves the geometrical phase, i.e., Berry's phase, in a natural wa...