Cavity Optomechanics with Ultracold Atoms and Molecules

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The coupling of coherent (laser based) optical systems to micromechanical devices, combined with breakthroughs in nanofabrication and in ultracold science, has opened up an exciting new field of research, cavity optomechanics. Several groups have now demonstrated very significant cooling of the vibrational motion of a broad range of moving mirrors, from nanoscale cantilevers to LIGO-class mirrors, and there is every reason to believe that their quantum mechanical ground state of motion of these systems will soon be achieved. In a parallel development, ultracold gases as well as Bose-Einstein condensates placed inside optical resonators have been shown to behave under appropriate conditions much like moving mirrors. Cavity optomechanics is rapidly becoming a very active sub-field or fundamental and applied research at the boundary between AMO physics, condensed matter physics, and nanoscience. With these breakthrough developments in mind, the main goal of this research is to develop a detailed theoretical understanding of key aspects of cavity optomechanics, including in particular the dynamics of mirror cooling, and to study a number of applications that include novel quantum sensors as well as the quantum and coherent control of ultracold atomic and molecular systems. Cavity optomechanics presents considerable promise both in opening the way to address fundamental questions related to pushing quantum mechanics toward increasingly macroscopic systems, but also in applications that span a variety of areas from quantum detection to the coherent control of microscopic systems and/or of nanoscale devices. On the applied side it will enable the development of ultrasensitive force sensors and may find applications in quantum information processing technology. In addition, the study of these problems is an excellent training ground for students in view of their interdisciplinary nature at the interface of several subfields of considerable fundamental and practical interest.