BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:Data::ICal 0.22 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Bill Phillips\, NIST\n\n
Physicists have used light and its p olarization to elucidate the internal state of atoms since the 19th centur y. \; Early in the 20th century\, the momentum of light was used to ch ange the center-of-mass motion of atoms. \; The latter part of the 20t h century brought optical pumping\, coherent laser excitation\, and laser cooling and trapping as tools to manipulate both the internal and external states of atoms. \; Atom optics techniques like diffraction of atoms from light provided the elements needed for atom-wave interferometers.&nbs p\; Bose-Einstein condensation created atomic samples having laser-like de Broglie-wave coherence. \; \; Now\, in the 21st \;century\, th e circulation of superfluid atoms in ring-shaped structures enables &ldquo \;atomtronic&rdquo\; circuitry&mdash\;an atomic analog of superconduction electric circuits. \; We observe persistent flow of atoms in toroidal traps\, and can introduce a weak-link (a kind of Josephson junction) that allows control of the quantized circulation of atoms. \;
\n DTSTART:20170317T193000Z LOCATION:Physics Building\, Room 203 SUMMARY:Manipulating atoms with light: from spectroscopy to atomtronics END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR