@article {2409, title = {Floquet engineering of optical lattices with spatial features and periodicity below the diffraction limit}, year = {2019}, month = {06/18/2019}, abstract = {

Floquet engineering or coherent time periodic driving of quantum systems has been successfully used to synthesize Hamiltonians with novel properties. In ultracold atomic systems, this has led to experimental realizations of artificial gauge fields, topological band structures, and observation of dynamical localization, to name just a few. Here we present a Floquet-based framework to stroboscopically engineer Hamiltonians with spatial features and periodicity below the diffraction limit of light used to create them by time-averaging over various configurations of a 1D optical Kronig-Penney (KP) lattice. The KP potential is a lattice of narrow subwavelength barriers spaced by half the optical wavelength (λ/2) and arises from the non-linear optical response of the atomic dark state. Stroboscopic control over the strength and position of this lattice requires time-dependent adiabatic manipulation of the dark state spin composition. We investigate adiabaticity requirements and shape our time-dependent light fields to respect the requirements. We apply this framework to show that a λ/4-spaced lattice can be synthesized using realistic experimental parameters as an example, discuss mechanisms that limit lifetimes in these lattices, explore candidate systems and their limitations, and treat adiabatic loading into the ground band of these lattices.

}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.07646}, author = {S. Subhankar and P. Bienias and P. Titum and T-C. Tsui and Y. Wang and Alexey V. Gorshkov and S. L. Rolston and J. V. Porto} } @article {2216, title = {Coherent optical nano-tweezers for ultra-cold atoms}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

There has been a recent surge of interest and progress in creating subwavelength free-space optical potentials for ultra-cold atoms. A key open question is whether geometric potentials, which are repulsive and ubiquitous in the creation of subwavelength free-space potentials, forbid the creation of narrow traps with long lifetimes. Here, we show that it is possible to create such traps. We propose two schemes for realizing subwavelength traps and demonstrate their superiority over existing proposals. We analyze the lifetime of atoms in such traps and show that long-lived bound states are possible. This work opens a new frontier for the subwavelength control and manipulation of ultracold matter, with applications in quantum chemistry and quantum simulation.

}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.02487}, author = {P. Bienias and S. Subhankar and Y. Wang and T-C Tsui and F. Jendrzejewski and T. Tiecke and G. Juzeliunas and L. Jiang and S. L. Rolston and J. V. Porto and Alexey V. Gorshkov} } @article {2322, title = {Study of radon reduction in gases for rare event search experiments}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

The noble elements, argon and xenon, are frequently employed as the target and event detector for weakly interacting particles such as neutrinos and Dark Matter. For such rare processes, background radiation must be carefully minimized. Radon provides one of the most significant contaminants since it is an inevitable product of trace amounts of natural uranium. To design a purification system for reducing such contamination, the adsorption characteristics of radon in nitrogen, argon, and xenon carrier gases on various types of charcoals with different adsorbing properties and intrinsic radioactive purities have been studied in the temperature range of 190-295 K at flow rates of 0.5 and 2 standard liters per minute. Essential performance parameters for the various charcoals include the average breakthrough times (τ), dynamic adsorption coefficients (ka) and the number of theoretical stages (n). It is shown that the ka-values for radon in nitrogen, argon, and xenon increase as the temperature of the charcoal traps decreases, and that they are significantly larger in nitrogen and argon than in xenon gas due to adsorption saturation effects. It is found that, unlike in xenon, the dynamic adsorption coefficients for radon in nitrogen and argon strictly obey the Arrhenius law. The experimental results strongly indicate that nitric acid etched Saratech is the best candidate among all used charcoal brands. It allows reducing total radon concentration in the LZ liquid Xe detector to meet the ultimate goal in the search for Dark Matter.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.06.076}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.11306}, author = {K. Pushkin and C. Akerlof and D. Anbajagane and J. Armstrong and M. Arthurs and Jacob Bringewatt and T. Edberg and C. Hall and M. Lei and R. Raymond and M. Reh and D. Saini and A. Sander and J. Schaefer and D. Seymour and N. Swanson and Y. Wang and W. Lorenzon} } @article {1784, title = {Effective Field Theory for Rydberg Polaritons}, journal = {Physical Review Letters}, volume = {117}, year = {2016}, month = {2016/09/09}, pages = {113601}, abstract = {

We study non-perturbative effects in N-body scattering of Rydberg polaritons using effective field theory (EFT). We develop an EFT in one dimension and show how a suitably long medium can be used to prepare shallow N-body bound states. We then derive the effective N-body interaction potential for Rydberg polaritons and the associated N-body contact force that arises in the EFT. We use the contact force to find the leading order corrections to the binding energy of the N-body bound states and determine the photon number at which the EFT description breaks down. We find good agreement throughout between the predictions of EFT and numerical simulations of the exact two and three photon wavefunction transmission.

}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.113601}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1605.05651}, author = {Michael Gullans and J. D. Thompson and Y. Wang and Q. -Y. Liang and V. Vuletic and M. D. Lukin and Alexey V. Gorshkov} }