T. L. Gustavson

Bio: T. L. Gustavson is an academic researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Atom interferometer & Bose–Einstein condensate. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 32 publications receiving 3150 citations. Previous affiliations of T. L. Gustavson include Finisar & Yale University.

Realization of Bose-Einstein Condensates in Lower Dimensions

Abstract: Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms have been prepared in optical and magnetic traps in which the energy-level spacing in one or two dimensions exceeds the interaction energy between atoms, realizing condensates of lower dimensionality. The crossover into two-dimensional and one-dimensional condensates was observed by a change in aspect ratio and by the release energy converging to a nonzero value when the number of trapped atoms was reduced.

Precision Rotation Measurements with an Atom Interferometer Gyroscope

Abstract: We report the demonstration of a Sagnac-effect atom interferometer gyroscope which uses stimulated Raman transitions to coherently manipulate atomic wave packets. We have measured the Earth's rotation rate, and demonstrated a short-term sensitivity to rotations of $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}(\mathrm{rad}/\mathrm{s})/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$.

Rotation sensing with a dual atom-interferometer Sagnac gyroscope

Abstract: We reports improvements to our Sagnac effect matter-wave interferometer gyroscope. This device now has a short-term rotation-rate sensitivity of 6×10−10 rad s−1 over 1 s of integration, which is the best publicly reported value to date. Stimulated Raman transitions are used to coherently manipulate atoms from counterpropagating thermal beams, forming two interferometers with opposite rotation phase shifts, allowing rotation to be distinguished from acceleration and laser arbitrary phase. Furthermore, electronically compensating the rotation-induced Doppler shifts of the Raman lasers allows operation at an effective zero rotation rate, improving sensitivity and facilitating sensitive lock-in detection readout techniques. Long-term stability is promising but not yet fully characterized. Potential applications include inertial navigation, geophysical studies and tests of general relativity.

Observation of Vortex Phase Singularities in Bose-Einstein Condensates

Abstract: We have observed phase singularities due to vortex excitation in Bose-Einstein condensates. Vortices were created by moving a laser beam through a condensate. They were observed as dislocations in the interference fringes formed by the stirred condensate and a second unperturbed condensate. The velocity dependence for vortex excitation and the time scale for re-establishing a uniform phase across the condensate were determined.

Propagation of Bose-Einstein condensates in a magnetic waveguide.

Abstract: Progress in the field of atom optics depends on developing improved sources of matter waves and advances in their coherent manipulation. Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute alkali vapors [1] are now used as sources of coherent atoms. Miniaturizing the current carrying structures used to confine condensates offers prospects for finer control over the clouds [2,3]. Following the successful trapping and guiding of thermal atoms using self-supported miniature wires [4 ‐8] and substrate-supported microfabricated wire arrays [9‐12], recent experiments merged wire traps on the millimeter scale [13] and microfabricated electronic devices [14,15] with Bose-Einstein condensation. This has opened up a front on which further techniques for coherent condensate transport and manipulation can be explored. While condensate guiding with optical potentials may be limited fundamentally by diffraction [16], fundamental limitations to guiding condensates with microfabricated surfaces are not expected for an atom-surface separation in excess of 1 mm [17]. In this Letter, we demonstrate that a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) transported with optical tweezers can be transferred into a microtrap on a substrate. Such condensates contained 5 times more atoms than those created in a similar microtrap [14]. We released the BEC from the microfabricated magnetic trap into a single-wire magnetic waveguide and studied its propagation. Condensates were observed to propagate 12 mm before exiting the field of view of our imaging system. We observed single-mode (excitationless) BEC propagation along homogeneous segments of the waveguide in a regime where the longitudinal kinetic energy of the condensate exceeded its transverse confinement energy. Transverse excitations were created in condensates propagating through perturbations in the guiding potential. These perturbations resulted from geometric deformations of the current carrying wires on the substrate. Finer imperfections were observed when trapped condensates were brought closer to the microchip as evidenced by the longitudinal fragmentation of the cloud. Condensates containing over 10 72 3 Na atoms were cre

Many-Body Physics with Ultracold Gases

Abstract: This paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical progress concerning many-body phenomena in dilute, ultracold gases. It focuses on effects beyond standard weak-coupling descriptions, such as the Mott-Hubbard transition in optical lattices, strongly interacting gases in one and two dimensions, or lowest-Landau-level physics in quasi-two-dimensional gases in fast rotation. Strong correlations in fermionic gases are discussed in optical lattices or near-Feshbach resonances in the BCS-BEC crossover.

A revolution in optical manipulation

Abstract: Optical tweezers use the forces exerted by a strongly focused beam of light to trap and move objects ranging in size from tens of nanometres to tens of micrometres. Since their introduction in 1986, the optical tweezer has become an important tool for research in the fields of biology, physical chemistry and soft condensed matter physics. Recent advances promise to take optical tweezers out of the laboratory and into the mainstream of manufacturing and diagnostics; they may even become consumer products. The next generation of single-beam optical traps offers revolutionary new opportunities for fundamental and applied research.

Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms

Abstract: Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system, and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum-statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems which can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles.

Quantum sensing

Abstract: "Quantum sensing" describes the use of a quantum system, quantum properties or quantum phenomena to perform a measurement of a physical quantity Historical examples of quantum sensors include magnetometers based on superconducting quantum interference devices and atomic vapors, or atomic clocks More recently, quantum sensing has become a distinct and rapidly growing branch of research within the area of quantum science and technology, with the most common platforms being spin qubits, trapped ions and flux qubits The field is expected to provide new opportunities - especially with regard to high sensitivity and precision - in applied physics and other areas of science In this review, we provide an introduction to the basic principles, methods and concepts of quantum sensing from the viewpoint of the interested experimentalist

A quantum Newton's cradle

Abstract: It is a fundamental assumption of statistical mechanics that a closed system with many degrees of freedom ergodically samples all equal energy points in phase space. To understand the limits of this assumption, it is important to find and study systems that are not ergodic, and thus do not reach thermal equilibrium. A few complex systems have been proposed that are expected not to thermalize because their dynamics are integrable. Some nearly integrable systems of many particles have been studied numerically, and shown not to ergodically sample phase space. However, there has been no experimental demonstration of such a system with many degrees of freedom that does not approach thermal equilibrium. Here we report the preparation of out-of-equilibrium arrays of trapped one-dimensional (1D) Bose gases, each containing from 40 to 250 (87)Rb atoms, which do not noticeably equilibrate even after thousands of collisions. Our results are probably explainable by the well-known fact that a homogeneous 1D Bose gas with point-like collisional interactions is integrable. Until now, however, the time evolution of out-of-equilibrium 1D Bose gases has been a theoretically unsettled issue, as practical factors such as harmonic trapping and imperfectly point-like interactions may compromise integrability. The absence of damping in 1D Bose gases may lead to potential applications in force sensing and atom interferometry.