Optically detecting the quantization of collective atomic motion
Abstract
We directly measure the quantized collective motion of a gas of thousands of ultracold atoms, coupled to light in a high-finesse optical cavity. We detect strong asymmetries, as high as 3:1, in the intensity of light scattered into low- and high-energy motional sidebands. Owing to high cavity-atom cooperativity, the optical output of the cavity contains a spectroscopic record of the energy exchanged between light and motion, directly quantifying the heat deposited by a quantum position measurement's backaction. Such backaction selectively causes the phonon occupation of the observed collective modes to increase with the measurement rate. These results, in addition to providing a method for calibrating the motion of low-occupation mechanical systems, offer new possibilities for investigating collective modes of degenerate gases and for diagnosing optomechanical measurement backaction.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1109.5233,
title = {Optically detecting the quantization of collective atomic motion},
author = {Nathan Brahms and Thierry Botter and Sydney Schreppler and Daniel W. C. Brooks and Dan M. Stamper-Kurn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.5233},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
4 pages plus supplemental material