2009/06/09 by B. M. Peden, Brandon Peden, D. Meiser +4 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Atomic clock #Atomic physics #Bloch oscillations #Chemistry #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Laser #Lattice (music) #Optical cavity #Optical lattice #Optics #Oscillation (cell signaling) #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics #Ultracold atom #cond-mat.quant-gas
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.80.043803
8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. A
arxiv created 2009/06/09 · openalex publication_date 2009/10/05 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We describe a scheme for probing a gas of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice and moving in the presence of an external potential. The probe is nondestructive and uses the existing lattice fields as the measurement device. Two counterpropagating cavity fields simultaneously set up a conservative lattice potential and a weak quantum probe of the atomic motion. Balanced heterodyne detection of the probe field at the cavity output along with integration in time and across the atomic cloud yield information about the atomic dynamics in a single run. The scheme is applied to a measurement of the Bloch oscillation frequency for atoms moving in the presence of the local gravitational potential. Signal-to-noise ratios are estimated to be as high as 104.