Advanced Topics in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (480-0-1)
Instructors
Timothy Light Kovachy
Meeting Info
Technological Institute M120: Mon, Wed, Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM
Overview of class
This course will introduce quantum science methods to cool atoms close to absolute zero temperature and to apply these cold atoms to precision metrology. The underlying concepts will be discussed and illustrated in the context of modern experiments. The following topics will be included. Cooling and trapping techniques for atoms: Doppler cooling of two-level atoms using lasers; the Doppler and recoil temperature limits; cooling below the Doppler temperature limit in multi-level atoms; sideband cooling; magneto-optic, optical-dipole, and magnetic traps; evaporative cooling and other methods for cooling below the recoil temperature limit, Bose-Einstein condensation. Frequency modulation saturation spectroscopy. Matter wave interferometry: methods for matter wave optics, applications in quantum sensing and metrology. Optical lattices: band structure, Bloch oscillations, applications in quantum sensing and simulation.
Prerequisite: Methods of Quantum Science