Work

Non-Abelian Gauge Potentials for Ultracold Atoms with Degenerate Dark States

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: We show that the adiabatic motion of ultracold, multilevel atoms in spatially varying laser fields can give rise to effective non-Abelian gauge fields if degenerate adiabatic eigenstates of the atom-laser interaction exist. A pair of such degenerate dark states emerges, e.g., if laser fields couple three internal states of an atom to a fourth common one under pairwise two-photon-resonance conditions. For this so-called tripod scheme we derive general conditions for truly non-Abelian gauge potentials and discuss special examples. In particular we show that using orthogonal laser beams with orbital angular momentum an effective magnetic field can be generated that has a monopole component.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.95.010404

Authors: J. Ruseckas, G. Juzeliūnas, P. Öhberg, M. Fleischhauer

Institutions: University of Kaiserslautern, Vilnius University, University of Strathclyde

Language: English

Topic: Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Technische Universität Kaiserslautern

OpenAlex ID: W2069514684

FWCI: 8.564

Cites: 35

Cited by: 529

Related to: 10