06_quantum
Quantum State Control in Optical Lattices
Ivan H. Deutsch Center for Advanced Studies, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 Poul S. Jessen Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
We study the means to prepare and coherently manipulate atomic wave packets in optical lattices, with particular emphasis on alkalis 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.