Related papers: Background atoms and decoherence in optical lattic…
We analyze in detail the heating of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice due to incoherent scattering of light from the lasers forming the lattice. Because atoms scattered into higher bands do not thermalize on the timescale of typical…
We study the macroscopic superposition of light coherent states of the type Schrodinger cat states; analizying, in particular, the role of the temperature in the decoherence processes, characteristic of the superposition of macroscopic…
During the last decade, many exciting phenomena have been experimentally observed and theoretically predicted for ultracold atoms in optical lattices. This paper reviews these rapid developments concentrating mainly on the theory. Different…
We study the possibility to create many-particle Schr\"odinger cat-like states by using a Feshbach resonance to reverse the sign of the scattering length of a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a double-well potential. To address the issue…
Cold atoms in optical lattices allow for accurate studies of many body dynamics. Rapid time-dependent modifications of optical lattice potentials may result in significant excitations in atomic systems. The dynamics in such a case is…
Decoherence is ubiquitous in quantum physics, from the conceptual foundations to quantum information processing or quantum technologies, where it is a threat that must be countered. While decoherence has been extensively studied for simple,…
We present a master equation describing the interaction of light with dielectric objects of arbitrary sizes and shapes. The quantum motion of the object, the quantum nature of light, as well as scattering processes to all orders in…
In current experiments with cold quantum gases in periodic potentials, interference fringe contrast is typically the easiest signal in which to look for effects of non-trivial many-body dynamics. In order better to calibrate such…
Using a master-equation approach for the description of coherent and incoherent dynamics in `artificial atoms and molecules', we present a theoretical analysis of situations where intense laser fields lead to pronounced renormalizations of…
We describe a new mechanism of decoherence in excited atoms as a result of thermal particles scattering by the atomic nucleus. It is based on the idea that a single scattering will produce a sudden displacement of the nucleus, which will be…
Light propagating in an optically thick sample experiences multiple scattering. It is now known that interferences alter this propagation, leading to an enhanced backscattering, a manifestation of weak localization of light in such diffuse…
The center of mass dynamics of cold atoms and the Bose-Einstein condensate in one dimensional optical lattice is considered both in the absence and in the presence of external forcing. We discuss three situations for matter waves: first,…
As a limiting case of ultracold atoms trapped in deep optical lattices, we consider two interacting atoms trapped in a general anisotropic harmonic oscillator potential, and obtain exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation for this…
In the field of atom optics, the basis of many experiments is a two level atom coupled to a light field. The evolution of this system is governed by a master equation. The irreversible components of this master equation describe the…
We study atoms in optical lattices whose electronic ground state is off-resonantly coupled to a highly excited state with strong binary interactions. We present a time-dependent treatment of the resulting quantum dynamics, which -- contrary…
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices are a powerful tool for quantum simulation, precise measurement, and quantum computation. A fundamental problem in applying this quantum system is how to manipulate the higher bands or orbitals in Bloch…
An "almost diagonal" reduced density matrix (in coordinate representation) is usually a result of environment induced decoherence and is considered the sign of classical behavior. We point out that the proton of a ground state hydrogen atom…
Open-system dynamics play a key role in the experimental and theoretical study of cavity optomechanical systems. In many cases, the quantum Langevin equations have enabled excellent models for optical decoherence, yet a master-equation…
Ultra-cold atoms trapped in an optical dipole trap and prepared in a coherent superposition of their hyperfine ground states, decohere as they interact with their environment. We demonstrate than the loss in coherence in an "echo"…
Decoherence due to scattering from background gas particles is observed for the first time in a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, and compared with decoherence due to scattering photons. A single theory is shown to describe decoherence due…