Related papers: Strongly focused light beams interacting with sing…
We calculate exact 3-D solutions of Maxwell equations corresponding to strongly focused light beams, and study their interaction with a single atom in free space. We show how the naive picture of the atom as an absorber with a size given by…
We characterize the interaction between a single atom or similar microscopic system and a light field via the scattering ratio. For that, we first derive the electrical field in a strongly focused Gaussian light beam, and then consider the…
We describe the resonant interaction of an atom with a strongly focused light beam by expanding the field in multipole waves. For a classical field, or when the field is described by a coherent state, we find that both intensity pattern and…
We consider the problem of quantum scattering of a localized wave packet by a weak Gaussian potential in two spatial dimensions. We show that, under certain conditions, this problem bears close analogy with that of focusing (or defocusing)…
Usual Gaussian beams are particular scalar solutions to the paraxial Helmholtz equation, which neglect the vector nature of light. In order to overcome this inconvenience, Simon et al. (J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 1986, 3, 536-540) found a paraxial…
We give an exact self-consistent operator description of the spin and orbital angular momenta, position, and spin-orbit interactions of nonparaxial light in free space. Both quantum-operator formalism and classical energy-flow approach are…
We consider the near-resonant interaction between a single atom and a focused light mode, where a single atom localized at the focus of a lens can scatter a significant fraction of light. Complementary to previous experiments on extinction…
The efficient interaction between single photons and single matter objects in free space is of key importance for quantum technologies. An experimental setup for testing this possibility involves single two-level ion trapped at the focus of…
The problem of light waves interaction with charged particles becomes more and more complex starting with the case of plane waves, where the analytical solution is well known, to more natural, though more complicated situations which…
The quantum vacuum shows an intensity-dependent nonlinear index of refraction. Consequently, we may consider vacuum as a non-linear medium enabling, at sufficiently high field strengths, a direct interaction of light with light. In this…
We study the interaction of a light beams carrying angular momentum with a single, trapped and well localized ion. We provide a detailed calculation of selection rules and excitation probabilities for quadrupole transitions. The results…
Recent technological advances allowed the coherent optical manipulation of high-energy electron wavepackets with attosecond precision. Here we theoretically investigate the collision of optically-modulated pulsed electron beams with atomic…
We study light scattering of single atoms in free space and discuss the results in terms of atom-photon entanglement and which-way information. Using ultracold atoms released from an optical lattice, we realize a Gedanken experiment which…
A hidden symmetry of the nonlinear wave equation is exploited to analyse the propagation of paraxial and uniform atom-laser beams in time-independent, quadratic and cylindrical potentials varying smoothly along the propagation axis. The…
Trapped ion crystals have proved to be one of the most viable physical implementations of quantum registers and a promising candidate for a scalable realization of quantum networks. The latter will require the development of an efficient…
We outline mechanical effects of light-matter interaction inside hollow-core optical fibers. Starting with quantized electromagnetic radiation, we demonstrate how dispersion, mode functions and losses define an open quantum system and how…
Paraxial diffraction of monochromatic Gaussian beams by arbitrarily shaped polygonal apertures is analytically explored within the boundary diffraction wave theory framework. Exact closed-form expressions of the diffracted wavefield are…
Modelling the scattering of focused, coherent light by nano-scale structures is oftentimes used to reconstruct or infer geometrical or material properties of structures under investigation in optical scatterometry. This comprises both…
The quantum optical response of high density ultracold atomic systems is critical to a wide range of fundamentally and technically important physical processes. These include quantum image storage, optically based quantum repeaters and…
We present a set of paraxial light beams with cylindrical symmetry, smooth and localized transversal profile carrying finite power, that develop intensity singularities when they are focused in a linear medium, such as vacuum. They include…