Humberto Michinel

Controllable soliton emission from a Bose-Einstein condensate.

We demonstrate, through numerical simulations, the controllable emission of matter-wave bursts from a Bose-Einstein condensate in a shallow optical dipole trap. The process is triggered by spatial variations of the scattering length along the trapping axis. In our approach, the outcoupling mechanisms are atom-atom interactions and thus, the trap remains unaltered. Once emitted, the matter wave forms a robust soliton. We calculate analytically the parameters for the experimental implementation of these matter-wave bursts of solitons.

Making optical vortices with computer-generated holograms

An optical vortex is a screw dislocation in a light field that carries quantized orbital angular momentum and, due to cancellations of the twisting along the propagation axis, experiences zero intensity at its center. When viewed in a perpendicular plane along the propagation axis, the vortex appears as a dark region in the center surrounded by a bright concentric ring of light. We give detailed instructions for generating optical vortices and optical vortex structures by computer-generated holograms and describe various methods for manipulating the resulting structures.

Stabilized two-dimensional vector solitons

In this Letter, we introduce the concept of stabilized vector solitons as nonlinear waves constructed by the addition of mutually incoherent fractions of Townes solitons that are stabilized under the effect of a periodic modulation of the nonlinearity. We analyze the stability of these new kinds of structures and describe their behavior and formation in Manakov-like interactions. Potential applications of our results in Bose-Einstein condensation and nonlinear optics are also discussed.

Analysis of an atom laser based on the spatial control of the scattering length

In this paper we analyze atom lasers based on the spatial modulation of the scattering length of a Bose-Einstein condensate. We demonstrate, through numerical simulations and approximate analytical methods, the controllable emission of matter-wave bursts and study the dependence of the process on the spatial shape of the scattering length along the axis of emission. We also study the role of an additional modulation of the scattering length in time.

Fourier analysis of non-paraxial self-focusing

In this paper we deduce a vectorial non-paraxial equation describing the self-focusing of light in a homogeneous isotropic Kerr medium. The equation is derived via transformation to the spatial frequency domain, which clarifies the physical nature of the approximations made. We also present numerical solutions for a linearly polarized Gaussian input beam and discuss the dependence of the self-focusing length on beam width and input power.

Detecting photon-photon scattering in vacuum at exawatt lasers

In a recent paper, we have shown that the QED nonlinear corrections imply a phase correction to the linear evolution of crossing electromagnetic waves in vacuum. Here, we provide a more complete analysis, including a full numerical solution of the QED nonlinear wave equations for short-distance propagation in a symmetric configuration. The excellent agreement of such a solution with the result that we obtain using our perturbatively-motivated Variational Approach is then used to justify an analytical approximation that can be applied in a more general case. This allows us to find the most promising configuration for the search of photon-photon scattering in optics experiments. In particular, we show that our previous requirement of phase coherence between the two crossing beams can be released. We then propose a very simple experiment that can be performed at future exawatt laser facilities, such as ELI, by bombarding a low power laser beam with the exawatt bump.

Internal dynamics of nonlinear beams in their ground states: short- and long-lived excitation

We have investigated the dynamics of optical beams in a cubic (focusing)–quintic (defocusing) nonlinear medium. In particular, we have found that strong beams can show long-lived elliptical oscillations, whereas in other cases, i.e., for weak beams or cylindrical oscillations, the dynamics decay quickly. This finding explains the observed higher efficiency in the fusion of two strong beams. We have also investigated, numerically and analytically, the robustness of the beams to an initial phase chirp.

Moment analysis of paraxial propagation in a nonlinear graded index fibre

We study analytically the evolution of the beam parameters in a system of layered nonlinear graded index fibres within the framework of the paraxial wave equation. It is shown that the fibre parameters can be chosen to induce resonant behaviour, a phenomenon which could be used to achieve pulse compression or to decouple the beam from the fibre.

Precision tests of QED and non-standard models by searching photon-photon scattering in vacuum with high power lasers

We study how to search for photon-photon scattering in vacuum at present petawatt laser facilities such as HERCULES, and test Quantum Electrodynamics and non-standard models like Born-Infeld theory or scenarios involving minicharged particles or axion-like bosons. First, we compute the phase shift that is produced when an ultra-intense laser beam crosses a low power beam, in the case of arbitrary polarisations. This result is then used in order to design a complete test of all the parameters appearing in the low energy effective photonic Lagrangian. In fact, we propose a set of experiments that can be performed at HERCULES, eventually allowing either to detect photon-photon scattering as due to new physics, or to set new limits on the relevant parameters, improving by several orders of magnitude the current constraints obtained recently by PVLAS collaboration. We also describe a multi-cross optical mechanism that can further enhance the sensitivity, enabling HERCULES to detect photon-photon scattering even at a rate as small as that predicted by QED. Finally, we discuss how these results can be improved at future exawatt facilities such as ELI, thus providing a new class of precision tests of the Standard Model and beyond.

Light by light diffraction in vacuum

We show that a laser beam can be diffracted by a more concentrated light pulse due to quantum vacuum effects. We compute analytically the intensity pattern in a realistic experimental configuration, and discuss how it can be used to measure the parameters describing photon-photon scattering in vacuum. In particular, we show that the quantum electrodynamics prediction can be detected in a single-shot experiment at future 100-PW lasers such as ELI or HIPER. On the other hand, if carried out at one of the present high-power facilities, such as OMEGA EP, this proposal can lead either to the discovery of nonstandard physics or to substantial improvement in the current limits by PVLAS collaboration on the photon-photon cross section at optical wavelengths. This example of manipulation of light by light is simpler to realize and more sensitive than existing, alternative proposals, and can also be used to test Born-Infeld theory or to search for axionlike or minicharged particles.