Physics with New Atomic Systems, Quantum Interactions, Cooling and Applications

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The study of cold atoms and their interactions is now at the forefront of atomic physics research. Many intriguing new frontiers using cold atoms are strongly connected with collisions, that is, how atoms interact when they approach each other. Although much is known about the simplest chemical elements, we are just beginning to understand the collisional behavior of atoms from across the periodic table. Yet, these collisional properties, in addition to being of fundamental scientific interest, will determine the possibilities for further applications. The specific goal of this research is to cool and study a wide range of atoms, all the way from Nitrogen, an atomic building block of the most important industrial and biological molecules, to Dysprosium, a rare and very magnetic species. Atoms to be studied include Fermionic species, atoms with large magnetic dipole moments, highly relativistic atoms, and atoms with non-trivial shell structure. The collisional interactions of these species will be studied, furthering our understanding of cold collision physics. This project includes graduate student and postdoctoral scholar training in many areas of modern technology. It is expected that this work will have broad scientific impact, as many different elements from across the uncharted (in terms of cold atom physics) territory of the periodic table will be studied. A large fraction of the project will be concentrated on pnictogen atomic gases (especially nitrogen), which would be a precursor in the manufacture of ultracold pnictogen containing molecules. Broadening the study of cold atoms to new species may have significant impact on understanding of condensed matter systems, electronic materials, chemical processes, and quantum information science, condensed matter quantum simulation, and precision tests of our most fundamental laws of nature, the Standard Model.