Cold-Atoms Physics

Areas: Physics of condensed matter, atoms and molecules

Both time and frequency standards and inertial sensors can be implemented using samples of atoms cooled down to a few microkelvin.
In this context, a new experimental apparatus is being developed for trapping cold atoms inside a hollow photonic crystal optical fiber. Such a system would significantly reduce the size of the atomic sample, thereby increasing the spatial resolution of the sensors. Moreover, it would allow for the experimental investigation of laser cooling processes in configurations where light is guided by the fiber itself. Finally, theoretical studies predict the emergence of regimes where atoms, due to photon-mediated interactions, spontaneously arrange themselves into periodic ordered structures.

At the same time, collaborations are ongoing with external research institutions:

For the construction of a hybrid optical-atomic interferometer for gravitational wave detection ("MIGA" experiment), currently under development at the University of Bordeaux.
For the study of quantum gas mixtures, i.e., Bose-Einstein condensates, in an experiment underway at the National Institute of Optics (CNR-INO) and the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) in Sesto Fiorentino.