Physics
Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schr\"odinger Equation…
Weakly ionized plasmas can be found in the lower layers of the solar and stellar atmospheres and in structures such as prominences and spicules. A variety of density perturbations and bulk flows detected in these environments have been…
We propose and demonstrate a dynamical mirror compensation scheme to restore velocity immunity in a large-area dual-atom-interferometer gyroscope. In an ideal Mach-Zehnder configuration, the phase shift is inherently immune to atomic…
We report laser-induced-fluorescence spectroscopy of the \({}^{1}S_{0}\rightarrow{}^{3}P_{1}\) intercombination transition in neutral zinc at \(307.6~\mathrm{nm}\). Isotope shifts are measured for all stable isotopes with kHz-level…
Ethanol is conventionally perceived only as a pungent tastant, while the potential sweet properties of ethanol clusters have remained unrecognized. Here we show that ethanol tetramers exhibit a unique time dependent lingering sweetness,…
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous plasma phenomenon that plays a critical role in particle heating and energization. During reconnection, the topology of magnetic field rearranges, depositing energy into the surrounding plasma through…
We investigate the February 19, 2025, re-entry of a Falcon 9 upper stage using optical observations from 43 meteor cameras across central Europe together with radar detections of re-entry plasma obtained with the 32.55 MHz SIMONe Germany…
Some optical measurements require relative timing of intensity variations with accuracy much finer than the camera frame period. One motivating example is dynamic aurora, where different prompt emissions are expected to originate from…
Standing light waves structure the electronic density of a Rydberg atom in a rich but surprisingly systematic fashion. We uncover these systematics, which are nearly universal across a large range of principal quantum numbers n, by varying…
Optical cycling refers to repeated excitation and spontaneous emission on an electronic transition in an atom or molecule. Optical cycling in molecules can enable a wide range of quantum control and readout techniques, but unfortunately it…
Forbidden atomic transitions provide some of the most stringent low-energy tests of physics beyond the Standard Model, with sensitivity set by the interplay between the sought-for signals and systematics suppressed by symmetry. Here we…
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets and other advances have led to renewed interest in magnetic mirrors for fusion energy. The non-Maxwellian nature of mirror plasmas necessitates kinetic modeling to predict, optimize and design…
We present an explicit multiscale algorithm for solving differential equations for problems with high-frequency modes that can be averaged over by separating and scaling the fast and slow dynamics within a single equation. We introduce a…
The well-known graphical representation called the Lu-Fano plot was originally developed for multi-channel Rydberg spectroscopy, especially in quantum defect theory. The present study shows some of the limitations of this traditional…
Why do we use nano-antennas for fusion? In three sentences: The present laser induced fusion plans use extreme mechanical shock compression to get one hotspot and then ignition. Still fusion burning spreads slower than expansion, and…
We demonstrate that a symmetry of the local gyrokinetic model is broken when the safety factor q is almost (but not exactly) a rational number and magnetic shear is $\hat{s} \approx 0$. Tokamaks with such a q profile will spontaneously…
We reconsider the footprints of radiation friction in a head-on collision of a bunch of relativistic charged particles with a laser pulse by demonstrating that forward and backward radiation and radiation friction are coherently enhanced in…
We investigate the fragmentation dynamics of methane dication (CH$_4^{2+}$) produced in collisions with 50-MeV C$^{6+}$ ions using the COLTRIMS technique. The method provides complete three-dimensional momentum vectors of the charged…
Measurements of interplanetary magnetic fields have long relied on spacecraft measurements, which provide only in-situ sampling and therefore cannot capture the global magnetic structure. Faraday rotation of radio signals extends in-situ…
We develop an analytical theory of coherent (scaled quadratically with the number of particles) radiation and coherent radiation friction in a head-on collision of a dense charged particle bunch with an intense laser pulse. We demonstrate…