J. Mompart

Lasing without inversion

This review paper is devoted to amplification and lasing without population inversion involving atomic transitions in gas media. We start by discussing the main motivation in inversionless lasing research, namely, the generation of short-wavelength laser light. Then, we review the basic physics of inversionless lasing in two-level and, eventually, in three- and multilevel atomic configurations. Finally, we summarize the current state of the art of LWI experiments and indicate the main difficulties with respect to short-wavelength laser generation.

Three-level atom optics via the tunneling interaction

Three-level atom optics is introduced as a simple, efficient, and robust method to coherently manipulate and transport neutral atoms. The tunneling interaction among three trapped states allows us to realize the spatial analog of the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage, coherent population trapping, and electromagnetically induced transparency techniques and offers a wide range of possible applications. We investigate an implementation in optical microtrap arrays and show that under realistic parameters the coherent manipulation and transfer of neutral atoms among dipole traps could be realized in the millisecond range.

Transferring orbital and spin angular momenta of light to atoms

Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), such as Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams, give rise to the violation of the standard dipolar selection rules during interaction with matter, yielding, in general, an exchange of angular momentum larger than per absorbed photon. By means of ab initio three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations, we investigate in detail the interaction of a hydrogen atom with intense Gaussian and LG light pulses. We analyze the dependence of the angular momentum exchange with the polarization, the OAM and the carrier-envelope phase of light, as well as with the relative position between the atom and the light vortex. In addition, a quantum-trajectory approach based on the de Broglie–Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics is used to gain physical insight into the absorption of angular momentum by the hydrogen atom.

Quantum Computing with Spatially Delocalized Qubits

We analyze the operation of quantum gates for neutral atoms with qubits that are delocalized in space, i.e., the computational basis states are defined by the presence of a neutral atom in the ground state of one out of two trapping potentials. The implementation of single-qubit gates as well as a controlled phase gate between two qubits is discussed and explicit calculations are presented for rubidium atoms in optical microtraps. Furthermore, we show how multiqubit highly entangled states can be created in this scheme.

Optical vault: A reconfigurable bottle beam based on conical refraction of light

We employ conical refraction of light in a biaxial crystal to create an optical bottle for photophoretic trapping and manipulation of particles in gaseous media. We show that by only varying the polarization state of the input light beam the optical bottle can be opened and closed in order to load and unload particles in a highly controllable manner.

Quantum computing in optical microtraps based on the motional states of neutral atoms

We investigate quantum computation with neutral atoms in optical microtraps where the qubit is implemented in the motional states of the atoms, i.e., in the two lowest vibrational states of each trap. The quantum gate operation is performed by adiabatically approaching two traps and allowing tunneling and cold collisions to take place. We demonstrate the capability of this scheme to realize a square root of swap gate, and address the problem of double occupation and excitation to other unwanted states. We expand the two-particle wave function in an orthonormal basis and analyze quantum correlations throughout the whole gate process. Fidelity of the gate operation is evaluated as a function of the degree of adiabaticity in moving the traps. Simulations are based on rubidium atoms in state-of-the-art optical microtraps with quantum gate realizations in the few tens of milliseconds duration range.

Photoionization with Orbital Angular Momentum Beams

Intense laser ionization expands Einsteins photoelectric effect rules giving a wealth of phenomena widely studied over the last decades. In all cases, so far, photons were assumed to carry one unit of angular momentum. However it is now clear that photons can possess extra angular momentum, the orbital angular momentum (OAM), related to their spatial profile. We show a complete description of photoionization by OAM photons, including new selection rules involving more than one unit of angular momentum. We explore theoretically the interaction of a single electron atom located at the center of an intense ultraviolet beam bearing OAM, envisaging new scenarios for quantum optics.

Applied Bohmian mechanics

Abstract Bohmian mechanics provides an explanation of quantum phenomena in terms of point-like particles guided by wave functions. This review focuses on the use of nonrelativistic Bohmian mechanics to address practical problems, rather than on its interpretation. Although the Bohmian and standard quantum theories have different formalisms, both give exactly the same predictions for all phenomena. Fifteen years ago, the quantum chemistry community began to study the practical usefulness of Bohmian mechanics. Since then, the scientific community has mainly applied it to study the (unitary) evolution of single-particle wave functions, either by developing efficient quantum trajectory algorithms or by providing a trajectory-based explanation of complicated quantum phenomena. Here we present a large list of examples showing how the Bohmian formalism provides a useful solution in different forefront research fields for this kind of problems (where the Bohmian and the quantum hydrodynamic formalisms coincide). In addition, this work also emphasizes that the Bohmian formalism can be a useful tool in other types of (nonunitary and nonlinear) quantum problems where the influence of the environment or the nonsimulated degrees of freedom are relevant. This review contains also examples on the use of the Bohmian formalism for the many-body problem, decoherence and measurement processes. The ability of the Bohmian formalism to analyze this last type of problems for (open) quantum systems remains mainly unexplored by the scientific community. The authors of this review are convinced that the final status of the Bohmian theory among the scientific community will be greatly influenced by its potential success in those types of problems that present nonunitary and/or nonlinear quantum evolutions. A brief introduction of the Bohmian formalism and some of its extensions are presented in the last part of this review.

Conical refraction as a tool for polarization metrology

A method for polarization metrology based on the conical refraction (CR) phenomenon, occurring in biaxial crystals, is reported. CR transforms an input Gaussian beam into a light ring whose intensity distribution is linked to the incoming polarization. We present the design of a division-of-amplitude complete polarimeter composed of two biaxial crystals, whose measurement principle is based on the CR phenomenon. This design corresponds to a static polarimeter, that is, without mechanical movements or electrical signal addressing. Only one division-of-amplitude device is required, besides the two biaxial crystals, to completely characterize any state of polarization, including partially polarized and unpolarized states. In addition, a mathematical model describing the system is included. Experimental images of the intensity distribution related to different input polarization states are provided. These intensity patterns are compared with simulated values, proving the potential of polarimeters based on biaxial crystals.

Free-space optical polarization demultiplexing and multiplexing by means of conical refraction

This paper presents a novel method to demultiplex and multiplex a monochromatic input light beam into, in principle, an arbitrary number of polarization states by means of the conical refraction (CR) phenomenon. In CR, when a focused Gaussian beam passes along the optic axis of a biaxial crystal it its transformed into a light ring at the focal plane of the system (or ring plane). Angular amplitude masks forming a star burst like pattern with n (up to 12) opened circular sectors placed at the ring plane allow passing only some sectors of the ring. These sectors form the communication channels. A second biaxial crystal identical to the first one and placed after it with opposite orientation of its plane of optic axes multiplexes the selected channels into a single beam, similar to the input Gaussian one. Finally, a third biaxial crystal is used to decode the transmitted channels at the receiver stage. With this technique, an increase in one order of magnitude in the channel capacity for free space optical communications (FSOC) of a monochromatic input Gaussian beam at 640 nm for a free space propagation distance of 4m with controlled crosstalk is observed.