English

Delocalization of ultracold atoms in a disordered potential due to light scattering

Quantum Gases 2015-06-05 v1 Atomic Physics

Abstract

We numerically study the expansion dynamics of ultracold atoms in a one-dimensional disordered potential in the presence of a weak position measurement of the atoms. We specifically consider this position measurement to be realized by a combination of an external laser and a periodic array of optical microcavities along a waveguide. The position information is acquired through the scattering of a near-resonant laser photon into a specific eigenmode of one of the cavities. The time evolution of the atomic density in the presence of this light scattering mechanism is described within a Lindblad master equation approach, which is numerically implemented using the Monte Carlo wave function technique. We find that an arbitrarily weak rate of photon emission leads to a breakdown of Anderson localization of the atoms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1206.5188,
  title  = {Delocalization of ultracold atoms in a disordered potential due to light scattering},
  author = {Boris Nowak and Jami J. Kinnunen and Murray J. Holland and Peter Schlagheck},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1206.5188},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

7 pages, 8 figures