Markku Jääskeläinen

Quantum pumping of electrons by a moving modulated potential

Quantum pumping holds great potential for future applications in microtechnology and nanotechnology. Its main feature, which is the dissipationless charge transport, is theoretically possible via several different mechanisms. However, since no unambiguous verification has been experimentally demonstrated, the question of finding a viable mechanism for pumping remains open. Here, we study quantum pumping in an one dimensional electron waveguide with a single time-dependent barrier. The quantum pumping of electrons by using a potential barrier whose height and position are harmonically varied is analytically analyzed and by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. The pumped charge is analytically modeled by including two contributions in linear response theory. First, the scattering of electrons off a potential moving slowly through matter waves gives a contribution independent of the translational velocity of the potential. Second, Doppler-shifted scattering events give rise to a velocity dependent contribution, which is found in general to be small in comparison with the first one. The relative phase between the oscillations of the height and position is found to be the factor that determines to what extent either contribution is present.

Quantum control of electromagnetically induced transparency dispersion via atomic tunneling in a double-well Bose-Einstein condensate

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is an important tool for controlling light propagation and nonlinear wave mixing in atomic gases with potential applications ranging from quantum computing to table top tests of general relativity. Here we consider EIT in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped in a double-well potential. A weak probe laser propagates through one of the wells and interacts with atoms in a three-level Lambda configuration. The well through which the probe propagates is dressed by a strong control laser with Rabi frequency Omega(mu), as in standard EIT systems. Tunneling between the wells at the frequency g provides a coherent coupling between identical electronic states in the two wells, which leads to the formation of interwell dressed states. The macroscopic interwell coherence of the BEC wave function results in the formation of two ultranarrow absorption resonances for the probe field that are inside of the ordinary EIT transparency window. We show that these new resonances can be interpreted in terms of the interwell dressed states and the formation of a type of dark state involving the control laser and the interwell tunneling. To either side of these ultranarrow resonances there is normal dispersion with very large slope controlled by g. We discuss prospects for observing these ultranarrow resonances and the corresponding regions of high dispersion experimentally.

Limits to phase resolution in matter-wave interferometry

We study the quantum dynamics of a two-mode Bose-Einstein condensate in a time-dependent symmetric double-well potential using analytical and numerical methods. The effects of internal degrees of freedom on the visibility of interference fringes during a stage of ballistic expansion are investigated varying particle number, nonlinear interaction sign and strength, as well as tunneling coupling. Expressions for the phase resolution are derived and the possible enhancement due to squeezing is discussed. In particular, the role of the superfluid-Mott insulator crossover and its analog for attractive interactions is recognized.

Phase-Space Analysis of Cavity-Assisted Photo-Association of Molecules

We study the photo-association of ultracold atoms into molecules using a cavity field. The semiclassical stationary solutions are found and compared with numerical quantum simulations. The results are analyzed using a reduced phase-space representation.