S. E. Pollack

Finite-range corrections near a Feshbach resonance and their role in the Efimov effect

We have measured the binding energy of

Charge management for gravitational-wave observatories using UV LEDs

^7

Demonstration of the zero-crossing phasemeter with a LISA test-bed interferometer

Li Feshbach molecules deep into the non-universal regime by associating free atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate by modulating the magnetic field. We extract the scattering length from these measurements, correcting for non-universal short-range effects using several different methods. We find that field-dependent effective range corrections agree well with the data. With this more precise determination of the scattering length vs. field we reanalyze our previous data on the location of atom loss features produced by the Efimov effect \cite{PollackSci09} and investigate effective range corrections to universal theory.

Outgassing, Temperature Gradients and the Radiometer Effect in LISA: A Torsion Pendulum Investigation

Accumulation of electrical charge on the end mirrors of gravitational-wave observatories can become a source of noise limiting the sensitivity of such detectors through electronic couplings to nearby surfaces. Torsion balances provide an ideal means for testing gravitational-wave technologies due to their high sensitivity to small forces. Our torsion pendulum apparatus consists of a movable plate brought near a plate pendulum suspended from a nonconducting quartz fiber. A UV LED located near the pendulum photoejects electrons from the surface, and a UV LED driven electron gun directs photoelectrons towards the pendulum surface. We have demonstrated both charging and discharging of the pendulum with equivalent charging rates of

A demonstration of LISA laser communication

\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{5}e/\mathrm{s}

High Sensitivity Torsion Balance Tests for LISA Proof Mass Modeling

, as well as spectral measurements of the pendulum charge resulting in a white noise level equivalent to

Universality in Three- and Four-Body Bound States of Ultracold Atoms

3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}e/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}

Anderson Localization in a Bose-Einstein Condensate with Tunable Interactions

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Quantum Tunneling of a Macroscopic Matter-wave Soliton

The laser interferometer space antenna (LISA) is being designed to detect and study in detail gravitational waves from sources throughout the Universe such as massive black hole binaries. The conceptual formulation of the LISA space-borne gravitational wave detector is now well developed. The interferometric measurements between the sciencecraft remain one of the most important technological and scientific design areas for the mission. Our work has concentrated on developing the interferometric technologies to create a LISA-like optical signal and to measure the phase of that signal using commercially available instruments. One of the most important goals of this research is to demonstrate the LISA phase timing and phase reconstruction for a LISA-like fringe signal, in the case of a high fringe rate and a low signal level. We present current results of a test-bed interferometer designed to produce an optical LISA-like fringe signal previously discussed in Jennrich O, Stebbins R T, Bender P L and Pollack S (2001 Class. Quantum Grav. 18 4159–64) and Pollack S E, Jennrich O, Stebbins R T and Bender P (2003 Class. Quantum Grav. 20 S291–00).

TUNABLE INTERACTIONS IN A BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATE OF LITHIUM: PHOTOASSOCIATION AND DISORDER-INDUCED LOCALIZATION

Thermal modeling of the LISA gravitational reference sensor (GRS) includes such effects as outgassing from the proof mass and its housing and the radiometer effect. Experimental data in conditions emulating the LISA GRS are required to confidently predict the GRS performance. Outgassing and the radiometer effect are similar in characteristics and are difficult to decouple experimentally.The design of our torsion balance allows us to investigate differential radiation pressure, the radiometer effect, and outgassing on closely separated conducting surfaces with high sensitivity. A thermally controlled split copper plate is brought near a freely hanging plate‐torsion pendulum. We have varied the temperature on each half of the copper plate and have measured the resulting forces on the pendulum.We have determined that to first order the current GRS model for the radiometer effect, outgassing, and radiation pressure are mostly consistent with our torsion balance measurements and therefore these thermal effects...