NONEQUILIBRIUM MANYBODY DYNAMICS WITH ULTRACOLD ATOMS IN OPTICAL LATTICES AND SELECTED PROBLEMS IN ATOMIC PHYSICS
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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.