We predict and study the quantum-electrodynamical effect of parametric self-induced excitation of a molecule moving above the dielectric or conducting medium with periodic grating. In this case the radiation reaction force modulates the molecular transition frequency which results in a parametric instability of dipole oscillations even from the level of quantum or thermal fluctuations. The present mechanism of instability of electrically neutral molecules is different from that of the well-known Smith-Purcell and transition radiation in which a moving charge and its oscillating image create an oscillating dipole.
We show that parametrically excited molecular bunches can produce an easily detectable coherent radiation flux of up to a microwatt.
We propose the dynamic control of two-color stationary light in a double-lambda four-level system using electromagnetically induced transparency. We demonstrate the complete localization of two-color quantum fields inside a medium using coherence moving gratings resulting from slow-light based atom-field interactions in backward nondegenerate four-wave mixing processes. The quantum coherent control of the two-color stationary light opens a door to deterministic quantum information science which needs a quantum nondemolition measurement, where the two-color stationary light scheme would greatly…
Diffraction gratings synthetically moving at trans-luminal velocities contain points where wave and grating velocities are equal. We show these points can be understood as a series of optical event horizons where wave energy can be trapped and amplified, leading to radiation from the quantum vacuum state. We calculate the spectrum of this emitted radiation, finding a quasi-thermal spectrum with features that depend on the grating profile, and an effective temperature that scales exponentially with the length of the grating, emitting a measurable flux even for very small grating contrast.
For the first time, based on the fluctuation-electromagnetic theory, we have calculated the drug force, the radiation heat flux and the frictional torque on a small rotating particle moving at a relativistic velocity through the equilibrium background radiation (photon gas). The particle and background radiation are characterized by different temperatures corresponding to the local thermodynamic equilibrium in their own reference frames.
We discuss the properties of thermal electromagnetic radiation produced by a neutral polarizable nanoparticle moving with an arbitrary relativistic velocity in a heated vacuum background with a fixed temperature. We show that the particle in its own rest frame acquires the radiation temperature of vacuum, multiplied by a velocity-dependent factor, and then emits thermal photons predominantly in the forward direction. The intensity of radiation proves to be much higher than for the particle at rest. For metal particles with high energy, the ratio of emitted and absorbed radiation power is propo…
Based on a fully relativistic framework and the assumption of local equilibrium, we describe a simple mechanism of quantum friction for a particle moving parallel to a dielectric. The Cherenkov effect explains how the bare ground state becomes globally unstable and how fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and the particle's dipole are converted into pairs of excitations. Modelling the particle as a silver nano-sphere, we investigate the spectrum of the force and its velocity dependence. We find that the damping of the plasmon resonance in the silver particle has a relatively strong impact…
It has recently been suggested that an Aharonov-Bohm phase should be capable of detection using beams of neutral polarizable particles. A more careful analysis of the proposed experiment suffices to show, however, that it cannot be performed regardless of the strength of the external electric and magnetic fields.
We calculate tangential forces applied to a ground state atom (nanoparticle) moving with nonrelativistic velocity parallel to the surface of Drude -modelled or Lorentz -modelled half -space using the formalism of fluctuation electrodynamics.The obtained formulae assume the nonretarded regime and arbitrary temperatures of the particle and medium. The quantum frictional force is realized at zero temperature of the particle and medium and can reach about 1/3 of the static value of the Casimir -Polder force in the case of ground state atom. In the case of nanoparticles and nonzero temperature, the…
The moving neutral system of two Coulomb charges on a plane subject to a constant magnetic field $B$ perpendicular to the plane is considered. It is shown that the composite system of finite total mass is bound for any center-of-mass momentum $P$ and magnetic field strength; the energy of the ground state is calculated accurately using a variational approach. Their accuracy is cross-checked in a Lagrange-mesh method for $B=1$ a.u. and in a perturbation theory at small $B$ and $P$. The constructed trial function has the property of being a uniform approximation of the exact eigenfunction. For a…
In a recent letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 220801 (2003)], V. Mkrtchian and co-workers calculated the radiation pressure force on a moving body, assuming the electromagnetic field to be at temperature $T,$ and the velocity to be much smaller than $c.$ They considered both dielectrics and conductors, and related the effect to Casimir dissipative forces. Here we claim that their approach may only apply in the Rayleigh-Ganz scattering regime, which corresponds to very small particles and/or electromagnetically rarefied media. Moreover, we argue that their interpretation in terms of the Casimir effe…
Analogous to Landau quantization related to a neutral particle possessing an electric quadrupole moment, we generalize such Landau quantization to include position-dependent mass (PDM) neutral particles. Using cylindrical coordinates, the exact solvability of PDM neutral particles with an electric quadrupole moment moving in electromagnetic fields is reported. The interaction between the electric quadrupole moment of a PDM neutral particle and a magnetic field in the absence of an electric field is analyzed for two different radial cylindrical PDM settings. Next, two particular cases of radial…
Theoretical studies of coherent atom transport have as yet mainly been restricted to one-dimensional model systems with harmonic trapping potentials. Here we investigate this important phenomenon -- a prerequisite for a variety of quantum-technology applications based on cold neutral atoms -- under much more complex physical circumstances. More specificially yet, we study fast atomic transport in a moving {\em double-well optical lattice}, whose three-dimensional (anharmonic) potential is nonseparable in the $x-y$ plane. We first propose specific configurations of acousto-optic modulators that…
We study, both classically and quantum-mechanically, the problem of a neutral particle with spin S, mass m and magnetic moment mue, moving in two-dimensions in an inhomogeneous magnetic field given by B_x=B'*x; B_y=-B'*y; B_z=B; We identify K, the ratio between the precessional frequency of the particle and its vibration frequency, as the relevant parameter of the problem. Classicaly, we find that when the magnetic moment is antiparallel to B, the particle is trapped provided that K<sqrt{4/27}. We also find that viscous friction, be it translational or precessional, destabilizes the system. Qu…
We study a string of neutral atoms with nearest neighbor interaction in a 1D beam splitter configuration, where the longitudinal motion is controlled by a moving optical lattice potential. The dynamics of the atoms crossing the beam splitter maps to a 1D spin model with controllable time dependent parameters, which allows the creation of maximally entangled states of atoms by crossing a quantum phase transition. Furthermore, we show that this system realizes protected quantum memory, and we discuss the implementation of one- and two-qubit gates in this setup.
We investigate the dynamics of neutral atoms in a 2D optical lattice which traps two distinct internal states of the atoms in different columns. Two Raman lasers are used to coherently transfer atoms from one internal state to the other, thereby causing hopping between the different columns. By adjusting the laser parameters appropriately we can induce a non vanishing phase of particles moving along a closed path on the lattice. This phase is proportional to the enclosed area and we thus simulate a magnetic flux through the lattice. This setup is described by a Hamiltonian identical to the one…
We investigate quantum computation with neutral atoms in optical microtraps where the qubit is implemented in the motional states of the atoms, i.e., in the two lowest vibrational states of each trap. The quantum gate operation is performed by adiabatically approaching two traps and allowing tunneling and cold collisions to take place. We demonstrate the capability of this scheme to realize a square-root of swap gate, and address the problem of double occupation and excitation to other unwanted states. We expand the two-particle wavefunction in an orthonormal basis and analyze quantum correlat…
A new quantum effect connected with the late time behavior of decaying states is described and its possible observational consequences are analyzed: It is shown that charged unstable particles as well as neutral unstable particles with non--zero magnetic moment which live sufficiently long may emit electromagnetic radiation. This mechanism is due to the nonclassical behavior of unstable particles at late times (at the post exponential time region). Analyzing the transition times region between exponential and non-exponential form of the survival amplitude it is found that the instantaneous ene…
Bodies in relative motion, spatially separated in vacuum, experience a tiny friction force known as quantum friction. This force has eluded experimental detection so far due to its small magnitude and short range. Herein, we give quantitative details so as to track traces of the quantum friction by measuring coherences in the atom. We notice that the environmentally induced decoherence can be decomposed into contributions of different signature: corrections induced by the electromagnetic vacuum in presence of the dielectric sheet and those induced by the motion of the particle. In this directi…
Quantum effects on a Landau-type system associated with a moving atom with a magnetic quadrupole moment subject to confining potentials are analysed. It is shown that the spectrum of energy of the Landau-type system can be modified, where the degeneracy of the energy levels can be broken. In three particular cases, it is shown that the analogue of the cyclotron frequency is modified, and the possible values of this angular frequency of the system are determined by the quantum numbers associated with the radial modes and the angular momentum and by the parameters associated with confining poten…
We describe a hybrid vacuum system in which a single ion or a well defined small number of trapped ions (in our case Ba$^+$ or Rb$^+$) can be immersed into a cloud of ultracold neutral atoms (in our case Rb). This apparatus allows for the study of collisions and interactions between atoms and ions in the ultracold regime. Our setup is a combination of a Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) apparatus and a linear Paul trap. The main design feature of the apparatus is to first separate the production locations for the ion and the ultracold atoms and then to bring the two species together. This schem…
