NONEQUILIBRIUM MANYBODY DYNAMICS WITH ULTRACOLD ATOMS IN OPTICAL LATTICES AND SELECTED PROBLEMS IN ATOMIC PHYSICS
NONEQUILIBRIUM MANYBODY DYNAMICS WITH ULTRACOLD ATOMS IN OPTICAL LATTICES AND SELECTED PROBLEMS IN ATOMIC PHYSICS
Files
Publication or External Link
Date
2014
Authors
Brown, Roger
Advisor
Porto, James V
Rolston, Steven L
Rolston, Steven L
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
This thesis is a collection of three separate projects ordered according to the
historical development of atomic physics, covering first spectroscopy, then laser cooling,
and finally the exploration of quantum dynamics of many-particle states of
ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. We begin with a description of the theory of
atomic line shapes with unresolvable hyperfine structure. We apply this theory to
experimentally measured spectra of the Lithium D lines and report improved determination
of the absolute transition frequencies and an improved bound of the
difference in 6Li-7Li nuclear charge radius. We then discuss multi-photon processes
in laser cooling and report experimental implementation of multi-photon laser cooling
and magneto optical trapping using short lived excited to excited transitions
in 133Cs. We present a theoretical proposal to laser cool (Anti-) Hydrogen using a
Doppler selective 1S-2S excitation and the Sisyphus effect on the 2S-3P transition.
Finally, we detail the construction and operation of an ultracold 87Rb apparatus
with a double well optical lattice. We use this lattice to prepare excited many-body
states with N´eel antiferromagnetic order and to study the resulting non-equilibrium
magnetization dynamics. We observe regimes where the dynamics is dominated by
superexchange mediated magnetic interactions.