Brenda Chng

Narrow band source of transform-limited photon pairs via four-wave mixing in a cold atomic ensemble.

We observe narrow band pairs of time-correlated photons of wavelengths 776 and 795 nm from nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a laser-cooled atomic ensemble of ^{87}Rb using a cascade decay scheme. Coupling the photon pairs into single mode fibers, we observe an instantaneous rate of 7700 pairs per second with silicon avalanche photodetectors, and an optical bandwidth below 30 MHz. Detection events exhibit a strong correlation in time [g((2))(τ = 0) ≈ 5800] and a high coupling efficiency indicated by a pair-to-single ratio of 23%. The violation of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality by a factor of 8.4 × 10(6) indicates a strong nonclassical correlation between the generated fields, while a Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiment in the individual photons reveals their thermal nature. The comparison between the measured frequency bandwidth and 1/e decay time of g((2)) indicates a transform-limited spectrum of the photon pairs. The narrow bandwidth and brightness of our source makes it ideal for interacting with atomic ensembles in quantum communication protocols.

Phase shift of a weak coherent beam induced by a single atom.

We report on a direct measurement of a phase shift on a weak coherent beam by a single 87Rb atom in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. By strongly focusing the probe mode to the location of the atom, a maximum phase shift of about 1 degree is observed experimentally.

Charging black Saturn

We construct new charged static solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell field equations in five dimensions via a solution generation technique utilizing the symmetries of the reduced Lagrangian. By applying our method on the multi-Reissner-Nordstrom solution in four dimensions, we generate the multi-Reissner-Nordstrom solution in five dimensions. We focus on the five-dimensional solution describing a pair of charged black objects with general masses and electric charges. This solution includes the double Reissner-Nordstrom solution as well as the charged version of the five-dimensional static black Saturn. However, all the black Saturn configurations that we found contain either a conical or naked singularity. We also obtain a non-extremal configuration of charged black strings that reduces in the extremal limit to a Majumdar-Papapetrou like solution in five dimensions.

Generation of an exponentially rising single-photon field from parametric conversion in atoms

We prepare heralded single photons from a photon pair source based on non-degenerate four-wave mixing in a cold atomic ensemble via a cascade decay scheme. Their statistics shows strong antibunching with g(0) < 0.03, indicating a near single photon character. In an optical homodyne experiment, we directly measure the temporal envelope of these photons and find, depending on the heralding scheme, an exponentially decaying or rising profile. The rising envelope will be useful for efficient interaction between single photons and microscopic systems like single atoms and molecules. At the same time, their observation illustrates the breakdown of a realistic interpretation of the heralding process in terms of defining an initial condition of a physical system.

Random numbers from vacuum fluctuations

We implement a quantum random number generator based on a balanced homodyne measurement of vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. The digitized signal is directly processed with a fast randomness extraction scheme based on a linear feedback shift register. The random bit stream is continuously read in a computer at a rate of about 480 Mbit/s and passes an extended test suite for random numbers.

Interaction of light with a single atom in the strong focusing regime

We consider the near-resonant interaction between a single atom and a focused light mode, where the single atom localized at the focus of a lens can scatter a significant fraction of light. Complementary to previous experiments on extinction and phase shift effects of a single atom, here we report on the measurement of coherently backscattered light. The strength of the observed effect suggests combining strong focusing with a cavity to further enhance the field at the location of the atom. This could make scaling up to a network of several atom + cavity nodes more realistic due to significant technical simplification of the atom–light interface. We consider theoretically a nearly concentric cavity, which has a strongly focused optical mode. Simple estimates show that in such a case one can expect a significant single photon Rabi frequency.

Polarization entanglement and quantum beats of photon pairs from four-wave mixing in a cold 87Rb ensemble

We characterize correlations in polarization and time of photon pairs generated from a cold cloud of 87Rb atoms via a four-wave mixing process in a cascade level scheme. Quantum state tomography reveals entangled polarization states of high purity for each of the decay paths through two different intermediate hyperfine levels. When allowing both decay paths, we observe quantum beats in time-resolved correlation measurements.

Interfacing light and single atoms with a lens

We investigate the interaction between a single atom and a light field in the strong focusing regime. Such a configuration is subject to recent experimental work not only with atoms but also molecules and other atom-like systems such as quantum dots. We derive the scattering probability for photons by such a microscopic object modeled by a two-level system, starting with a Gaussian beam as the spatial mode of the light field. The focusing by an ideal lens is modeled by adopting a field with spherical wave fronts compatible with Maxwell equations. Using a semi-classical approach for the atom-field interaction, we predict a scattering probability of photons by a single atom of up to 98% for realistic focusing parameters. Experimental results for different focusing strengths are compared with our theoretical model.

Accelerating Taub-NUT and Eguchi-Hanson solitons in four dimensions

We construct new solutions of the vacuum Einstein field equations in four dimensions via a solution-generating method utilizing the

Atom-light interface in strong focusing geometry

\mathrm{SL}(2,R)