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Project leader Buljan Hrvoje
Project co-leader: Marin Soljačić
Administering organization: Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 102a, 10000 Zagreb http://www.pmf.unizg.hr OIB: 28163265527
Partner Institution/Company: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Grant type: 1B
Project title: Pseudo-magnetic forces and fields for atoms and photons
Project summary: This proposal aims to discover novel schemes for creating pseudo-magnetic fields (also referred to as synthetic magnetic fields) for atoms and photons, and to provide experimental demonstrations of some magnetic effects such as the Lorentz force via these schemes. The targeted systems are ultracold atomic gases (experimental and theoretical effort), and propagating laser beams in photonic structures (theoretical effort, experiments could follow up this project). The motivation for this study in simple words is as follows. Magnetic fields occur near bar magnets or wires carrying currents. When a charged particle such as electron moves in a magnetic field, it feels a force perpendicular to its velocity. This force is called the Lorentz force, and it is a consequence of the interaction of a charged particle and the magnetic field. However, if an electrically neutral particle such as an atom would move in a magnetic field, it would not feel the Lorentz force as an electron would. Similarly, a light beam passing through such a magnetic field would not feel its presence. Here we want to construct artificial systems, where the behavior of atoms and photons in these artificial systems would be analogous to behavior of electrons in magnetic fields. We consider ultracold atomic gases and propagating laser beams in photonic structures. These systems have attracted considerable attention in the recent decades. By introducing pseudo-magnetic fields and consequently magnetic effects in those systems would open the way for studies of magnetic phenomena analogous to those in electronic systems, and potentially lead to their applications. We propose to study and implement, theoretically and experimentally, novel schemes realizing pseudo-magnetic (synthetic magnetic) forces for an ultracold classical gas of neutral atoms. The scheme utilizes resonant interaction of laser beams with internal atomic levels in a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT), yielding a characteristic Lorentz-like force. Our experiments are performed using 87Rb atomic cloud in the MOT. Our teams have long-term experience in the fields of optics and photonics, and ultracold atomic gases. We find it synergetic to investigate the possibility of implementing new schemes for creating synthetic magnetic fields acting on laser beams propagating through specially tailored photonic materials.
Hrvatski sažetak: Cilj ovog projekta otkriće je novih shema i sustava za postizanje pseudo-magnetskih polja (koja također zovemo sintetička magnetska polja) za atome i fotone. Eksperimentalno ćemo demonstrirati neke magnetske pojave poput Lorentzove sile u okviru tih novih shema. Sustavi koje istražujemo su ultra-hladni atomski plinovi (eksperimentalni i teorijski rad) i laserski snopovi u fotoničkim strukturama (teorijski rad, eksperimentalni rad može biti nastavak ovog projekta). Motivaciju za ovo istraživanje možemo jednostavnim riječnikom formulirati ovako. Magnetska polja prisutna su blizu magneta te blizu vodiča kojima teče struja. Kada se nabijena čestica kao na primjer elektron giba u magnetskom polju, tada osjeća silu okomitu na svoju brzinu. Tu silu zovemo Lorentzova sila, a ona je posljedica međudjelovanja nabijene čestice i magnetskog polja. Međutim, ukoliko se električki neutralna čestica kao na primjer atom giba u magnetskom polju neće osjećati silu poput Lorentzove. Također, ukoliko propustimo (laserski) snop svjetlosti kroz magnetsko polje, on neće osjećati magnetsko polje. U okviru ovog projekta dizajnirati ćemo i konstruirati umjetne sustave u kojima će ponašanje atoma i fotona biti analogno ponašanju elektrona u magnetskom polju. Zanimaju nas ultrahladni atomski plinovi i laserski snopovi u fotoničkim strukturama. Ovi sustavi pobudili su veliko zanimanje znanstvenika u posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća. Uvodeći pseudo-magnetska polja u te sustave otvorilo bi put istraživanjima magnetskih pojava analognih onima u elektronskim sustavima i potencijalno dovelo do primjena tih pojava. Ovdje predlažemo istraživanje i implementaciju, teorijski i eksperimentalno, novih shema u kojima bi se realizirale pseudomagnetske tj. sintetičke magnetske sile na ultrahladni klasični plin neutralnih atoma. Sheme koje koristimo temeljene su na rezonantnom međudjelovanju laserskih snopova i unutarnjih atomskih nivoa u magnetsko-optičkoj klopci (eng. Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT)). Te sheme producirati će karakterističnu Lorentzovu silu. U eksperimentima koristimo oblake atoma Rubidija-87 u MOT-u. Naš znanstveni tim ima višegodišnje iskustvo u području optike i fotonike te ultrahladnih atomskih plinova. Tu sinergiju ćemo iskoristiti za implementaciju novih shema za stvaranje sintetičkih magnetskih polja koje osjećaju laserski snopovi propagirajući se kroz posebno skrojene fotoničke strukture.
Amount requested from UKF: 1.500.000,00 HRK
Amount of matching funding: 300.000,00 HRK
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