Atomic Physics Seminars

Quantum gases are rich systems that possess many parallels with condensed matter. Atomic physicists can avail themselves of many tools for shaping these gases and tailoring their properties. For example, one can create beautifully ordered lattices of quantized vortices within a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) by magnetic or optical "stirring" of the gas, similar to those observed in superconductors and liquid helium-3. In our laboratory at Georgia Tech we have used Bragg scattering to probe the momentum distribution of arrays of these vortices. In addition, I will also discuss our efforts to use optical forces to tailor the matter wave expansion of a BEC, with applications to atom optical focusing and guiding.