1998/01/13 by Ivan Deutsch, I. H. Deutsch, Poul Jessen +1 · 6 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Optical lattice #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum decoherence #Quantum mechanics #Quantum state #Quantum superposition #Quantum tunnelling #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Superfluidity #Superposition principle #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.57.1972
35 pages including 8 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. A. March 1998
arxiv created 1998/01/13 · openalex publication_date 1998/03/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the means of preparing and coherently manipulating atomic wave packets in optical lattices, with particular emphasis on alkali-metal atoms in the far-detuned limit. We derive a general, basis-independent expression for the lattice potential operator, and show that its off-diagonal elements can be tailored to couple the vibrational manifolds of separate magnetic sublevels. Using these couplings one can evolve the state of a trapped atom in a quantum coherent fashion, and prepare pure quantum states by resolved-sideband Raman cooling. We explore the use of atoms bound in optical lattices to study quantum tunneling and the generation of macroscopic superposition states in a double-well potential. Far-off-resonance optical potentials lend themselves particularly well to reservoir engineering via well-controlled fluctuations in the potential, making the atom-lattice system attractive for the study of decoherence and the connection between classical and quantum physics.