Related papers: Self-Organization Threshold with an External Poten…
We have observed self-sustained radial oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap (MOT), containing up to $10^{10}$ Rb$^{85}$ atoms. This instability is due to the competition between the confining force of the MOT and the repulsive…
We calculate the band structure of ultracold atoms located inside a laser-driven optical cavity. For parameters where the atom-cavity system exhibits bistability, the atomic band structure develops loop structures akin to the ones predicted…
We consider collective dynamics of self-propelling particles in two dimensions. They can align themselves according to the direction of propulsion of their neighbours, together with a random perturbation (i.e. rotational fluctuation). They…
Self-organization is frequently observed in active collectives, from ant rafts to molecular motor assemblies. General principles describing self-organization away from equilibrium have been challenging to identify. We offer a unifying…
We study the ultimate bounds on the sensitivity of a Bloch-oscillation atom interferometer where the external force is estimated from the measurement of the on-site atomic density. For external forces such that the energy difference between…
Arrays of optical tweezers form the backbone of neutral atoms analog and digital quantum processors. However, the inter-trap distance remains generally much larger than the size of the tweezers to avoid interference-induced trap…
When a single two-level atom interacts with a pair of Laguerre-Gaussian beams with opposite helicity, this leads to an efficient exchange of angular momentum between the light field and the atom. When the radial motion is trapped by an…
Polariton condensation can be regarded as a self-organization phenomenon, where phase ordering is established among particles in the system. In such condensed systems, further ordering can possibly occur in the particle density…
Collective coherent scattering of laser light induces strong light forces between polarizable point particles. These dipole forces are strongly enhanced in magnitude and distance within the field of an optical waveguide so that at low…
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…
The controllable positioning of a vacuum-levitated object near a material surface is of importance for studying short-range forces, such as Casimir forces, interfacial friction forces, or gravity in yet unexplored parameter regimes. Here we…
Typically discussed in the context of optics, caustics are envelopes of classical trajectories (rays) where the density of states diverges, resulting in pronounced observable features such as bright points, curves, and extended networks of…
Tailored time-dependent variations of the transverse profile together with longitudinal phase shifts of laser beams are studied. It is shown theoretically that a standing wave setup and real-time beam forming techniques (e.g. by…
We study a system of ultra-cold atoms possessing long range interaction (e.g. dipole-dipole interaction) in a one dimensional optical lattice in the presence of a confining harmonic trap. We have shown that for large enough on-site and…
Taking recent experiments as examples, we discuss the conditions for sub-wavelength probing of optical field structures by single trapped atoms. We calculate the achievable resolution, highlighting its connection to the fringe visibility in…
We study optical cavity locking for laser stabilization through spatial modulation of the phase front of a light beam. A theoretical description of the underlying principle is developed for this method and special attention is paid to…
We recently demonstrated that strings of trapped atoms inside a standing wave optical dipole trap can be rearranged using optical tweezers [Y. Miroshnychenko et al., Nature, in press (2006)]. This technique allows us to actively set the…
We examine here the classical dynamics of cold atoms in square optical lattices, i.e. lattices obtained with two orthogonal stationary plane waves. Contrary to much of the past studies in this domain, the potential is here time independent…
We investigate theoretically a semiconductor quantum wire under the effect of an intense off-resonant cw laser. We show that in the regime of strong exciton-phonon coupling the light-dressed ground state of the wire reveals…
We present an experimental study of a four beam optical lattice using the light scattered by the atoms in the lattice. We use both intensity correlations and observations of the transient behavior of the scattering when the lattice is…