Observation of spontaneous quantum fluctuations in photon absorption by atoms
Atomic Physics
2015-06-12 v1
Abstract
Fluctuations in light absorption by atoms are observed by applying laser light on rubidium atoms and measuring the transmitted light intensity fluctuations. These fluctuations are spontaneous noise, which are generic to photon atom interactions. By making use of the sub-shot noise random signal detection technology, we have measured the spectra at sub-shot noise levels to reveal their rich nature, which had previously been unobserved. The effects of atoms transiting the laser beam, Rabi flopping in the optical transitions and Larmor precession of the magnetic moment are observed in the spectra. The properties of the fluctuations reflect not only the quantum behavior of atoms, but also that of light.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1301.5405,
title = {Observation of spontaneous quantum fluctuations in photon absorption by atoms},
author = {Takahisa Mitsui and Kenichiro Aoki},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.5405},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
6pages, 5 figures